The Dark Prince
by TsukiakariNoMichi
Summary: There is always much more to Ichigo than meets the eye. He is not an average student, he is more than that: He is a member of the Royal Family of Soul Society. Watch on, as the Dark Prince Awakens. Formal summary inside. R & R pls!
1. Awakening of the Dark Prince

The Dark Prince

Formal Summary: Kurosaki Ichigo knows that he has never been normal. He is blessed with the ability to see spirits, and to communicate with the dead. However, on the night he meets Kuchiki Rukia, his true self awakens, and he fully embraces his true identity.

Note: This first chapter follows the first meeting of Ichigo and Rukia very closely, but there will also be major changes, especially at the end. Please read it all the way to the bottom, as there is more to this story than just copying what happened in the Bleach Anime episode 1.

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach, and neither do I own the various sources of inspiration for this story, like Code Geass. This disclaimer applies to all chapters, and is the only one I'm doing for this entire story.

Chapter 1: Awakening of the Dark Prince

Kurosaki Ichigo was lying on his bed, thinking of the events that had occurred earlier. He had always been able to see spirits, and he had communicated with many of them before. The strangely translucent people with broken chains protruding from their chests had often been friends of his, at least for the short time that they remained on earth. The one thing common with all spirits was that they would disappear after a short while. Ichigo never knew why, but assumed that they moved on to whatever afterlife there was.

However, that day, something else had happened. He had seen some beings he never thought he would see. First, he had seen a _monster_ that was wreaking havoc in the town. He recognized at once that it must have been a sort of spirit, as nobody could see it other than him. The monster had been chasing a young girl's spirit when he saw it. He also noticed that the monster had a pure white mask, and a gaping hole in the place where its heart should have been.

Ichigo was shocked at this, and prepared to run from there, but suddenly, a third spirit appeared. This spirit was a teenage girl, who was rather short, had short black hair and violet eyes. She was dressed in black robes and was wielding a sword. To Ichigo's surprise, the girl jumped forward at a speed unmatched by any human, and slashed at the monster's mask with her sword, saving Ichigo and the young girl's spirit, which had been chased by the monster. Ichigo called out, "Hey, wait!"

But, the girl with the sword simply glanced at him shortly before suddenly vanishing into thin air. Ichigo looked at the scene, unable to believe what had just happened. He decided to simply go home, and ask his sister Karin if she had seen anything like that, as Karin was also able to see spirits clearly. However, she had not seen such spirits before and was unable to answer. Disappointed, Ichigo went to his room and laid on his bed, thinking about what had happened earlier.

For better or for worse, he was not to remain clueless for much longer. For at that moment, the girl he had seen earlier _jumped right through his window_. The petite, sword-wielding woman from earlier entered through Ichigo's window, one hand on her sword, ready to quickly draw it from its sheath. Ichigo jerked up, and looked at her in shock and suspicion, then cried out, "Hey! What the hell do you think you're doing!"

To his chagrin, the woman simply ignored him and continued moving forward stealthily. She then used her thumb to slightly push her sword upwards, so that a few centimeters of the blade were exposed. Understandably, Ichigo was shocked by what she had just done, and believing that she had hostile intentions, Ichigo grabbed his pillow and threw it at her. Startled, the girl turned his way, and while she was distracted by the pillow hitting her face, Ichigo shot forward and kicked away her hand, which was just about to draw her sword. Ichigo snapped, "What do you think you're doing, just entering someone's house with a sword and dressed like some kind of Samurai?"

The girl looked at him in disbelief, and said, "You...managed to hit me..."

Ichigo looked at her like she was crazy, then remembered that she was probably not even human. He replied, "Oh, you must be a spirit, if you're surprised that I can see you."

"You can see spirits? That is uncommon amongst the humans. Only one in 50000 humans can see us spirits."

Ichigo looked at her with less suspicion, now that he had confirmed her to be a spirit. He also spoke in a lighter tone. He spoke, "Is that so? I've been able to see spirits all my life. But all the spirits I saw were the normal human spirits, the ones with broken chains coming out of their chests. Today was the first time I ever saw a spirit like you, wearing those black robes and holding swords. Sorry about kicking you just then, I thought you were a burglar."

"I accept your apology, but...to think I was a burglar!"

"Well, it is rather suspicious when a stranger enters through the window wielding a sword. You can't blame me for being suspicious, can you? Anyway, that aside, I have some questions about what happened this afternoon, involving you and that monster. Could you explain what happened back there?"

"Ordinarily, we keep this information to ourselves, and we don't bother explaining to humans. But since you can actually see, feel and communicate with spirits, I suppose telling you would be better than keeping it from you. My name is Kuchiki Rukia, and I am a Shinigami."

"I'm Kurosaki Ichigo. About the Shinigami part – are you serious?"

Rukia nodded, and then suddenly took a sketchpad and started drawing on it. Within a few minutes, she was done, and showed the her work to Ichigo, whose eyes widened. On the paper were very badly drawn things that looked vaguely like rabbits. Some of them were in black robes, some were in normal human clothes, and others had holes in their chests. Ichigo sweatdropped, and said bluntly, "That terrible drawing does not explain anything!"

"_Bakudo #1: Sai!_"

Ichigo yelled out in surprise, as his arms were suddenly bound behind his back. Looking up, he wondered in shock how the girl had so suddenly bound his arms with something resembling a verbal command. Strangely, the girl's use of the strange technique raised some nostalgia in Ichigo. Brushing it off, he demanded, "What the hell did you do to me? Release me , damn it!"

Rukia ignored him and started explaining Shinigami, normal souls and Hollows, speaking in a cold voice. Ichigo stopped struggling and listened. When Rukia ended her explanation, her face looked thoughtful and she said, "Earlier, I was tracking a Hollow. We Shinigami can sense the presence of other Spirits that have some Spirit Energy. I could easily follow that Hollow, but when you threw that pillow at me, I could no longer sense it."

"Maybe it disappeared?"

"Not likely. There are many souls in this town for the Hollow to feast on. To just give up is not in the nature of Hollows."

"What? If the people in this town are in danger, shouldn't you be out there doing your job?"

"Silence! I won't have a mere human telling me howto do my job. As soon as I can sense it, I can-"

"_Rooaaaarrrr!_"

As soon as the sound was heard by the two in the room, Rukia's eyes widened in shock, and she ran out. Ichigo looked at her and cried, "What, it's here? Hey, you're not going to fight it by yourself are you?"

"Of course I am! Like you just said, it is my _job_!"

"Look I was joking! Here, release my arms, and let me help you out!"

Rukia sneered, "_Help_? You'll only get in the way!"

"Wait!Don't!"

Rukia had already gone down, and was in the living room. She hurried over to the door. Ichigo looked at her desperately. Ordinarily, he would have let the girl go, but this time, something had stirred in the back of his mind, telling him that he had to intervene. Crying out with the strain, he tried as hard as he could to move his arms. Unfortunately, his efforts were futile, since he could not use his spirit energy to break the invisible bonds. Then, at that moment, a small voice in his head muttered, "_Imagine energy flowing to your arms. Imagine it flowing like water, from your body to your arms. Don't overdo it, the spell is extremely weak, and using even a small fraction of you power is like killing a fly with a sledgehammer._"

Not knowing why he was even listening to a voice that had just popped into his head, Ichigo obeyed, willing power to flow into his arms. In order to control it, he imagined the energy to be like a small flow of water.The next moment, he heard Rukia say, "Impossible! A human should not be able to break a Kido spell! This guy...he just did it without even halfway straining himself!" Ichigo looked down, and found that his arms were free. Rukia was about to ask another question, but the Hollow roared once again, and Rukia ran out through the door to confront the enemy instead of wasting time talking.

Ichigo followed, and soon, they found themselves facing the Hollow. Rukia readied her sword, holding it in a defensive position. She ran forward and struck. To Ichigo's surprise, a thought drifted into his mind: _Her grip on her sword is not strong enough. She is not putitng enough strength into her strike. The Hollow can easily overpower her._

Ichigo knew nothing about swordplay, and was taken aback when his prediction came true. Rukia came tumbling to the floor. He shouted her name in anxiety and ran forward to help her. At that moment, the Hollow stepped forward, drooling, its sights set on Ichigo. Ichigo gulped in fright, having never faced such a monster before. The fear clearly showing in his face, he backed up a few steps. The monster growled and stepped forward, moving slowly, to instil more fear in Ichigo. The 16 year old started considering running from there.

"_Do not run, Ichigo. Fight._"

"How? This Shinigami got beaten so fast, what chance do I have? Who the hell are you anyway? And how can you hear my thoughts?"

"_I am your partner, Ichigo. We are bound by an unbreakable contract. We are accomplices._"

"Accomplices? I don't even know you!"

"_You have known me for thousands of years. You have simply forgotten your past because of your rebirth. I am the one who aids you in battle. We fight alongside each other as blade and wielder. My name, Ichigo, is...Zangetsu!_"

As soon as the name was spoken, it resounded deeply within Ichigo's mind like thunder. Ichigo dropped to one knee, with the mental strain. Flashes of memories streamed into his head at an alarming pace. The image of a large palace, a grinning man, who looked around 25 years old, with blond hair, a warmly smiling woman with dark blue hair, who looked 16, and a boy and girl who looked similar to each other, with the same excited smiles and light brown hair, both of whom looked like 12 years old. Then, finally, another image came, this one of a young boy, probably just 6 years old, who looked very scared, and had dark brown hair and lighter brown eyes.

Many more images flashed through Ichigo's head, and these were of many more people. Soon, it stopped.

Rukia looked uncertainly at Ichigo, not knowing what had happened. Even the Hollow had stopped to watch what would happen next. Rukia tentatively called out, "Hey, Kurosaki Ichigo! What happened?"

To her surprise, Ichigo got up, smilig slightly. The Hollow, which had been watching with its head cocked to one side curiously, drawled, "About time you woke up, kid. I hate eating souls unless they're conscious. I love hearing those screams of agony as I rip their guts out!"

Ichigo started walking towards the Hollowwith small but confident steps. As he approached the monster, he asked, "Is that so? You know, I've never hated Hollows. To me, they're simply like rabid animals. And you know what must be done with such pitiful animals, don't you?"

The Hollow stopped grinning, and looked calculatingly at Ichigo. The teen responded calmly, "_They must be put down._"

The Hollow's eyes widened considerably at the statement, and at the tone with which it had been spoken. This teen, who was close to running away in fright, now confronted him with an air of authority, as if killing Hollows was a regular, mundane thing for him. Before he could even take a step forward to attack, a sword materialized out of thin air into Ichigo's hand. The next second, the Hollow's body was already dissolving, having been cut in two by Ichigo's blade.

Rukia watched it all with growing shock. "_A human, simply destroying a Hollow like that? How did he materialize a blade into his hand just like that? And his spiritual pressure – It's off the charts!_"

Ichigo examined the sword in his hand, which had a dark blue hilt, a shiny silver blade and a crescent chaped crossguard. He then sheathed it, then turned to the speechless Rukia and spoke in a confident tone, "Your injuries are bad. Come to my house and I'll patch you up."

Looking at Rukia's expression, Ichigo said kindly, "Don't worry, you have my word that I will not allow any harm to come to you while you're with me."

Rukia shook her head vigorously and snapped, "Hold on! What the hell just happened? You're supposed to be a mere human, but you suddenly materialize a Zanpakuto, and kill that Hollow with a _lazy_ strike! And not to mention, your reiatsu is through the roof! It's even higher than a Captain's! Or did you not notice that either?"

Ichigo stared at her for a few seconds, and sighed. He looked Rukia in the eye and said, "Alright, I'll tell you who I am. Everything I am going to tell you now is true, although it may sound unbelievable to you."

Rukia had had her fair share of "unbelievable", and nodded, motioning him to continue.

"Tell me, Rukia. Which is the highest Authority in Soul Society?"

"Central 46. It is like our Government. Every order they give is to be carried out to the letter, and not even the Captain Commander can overrule their decisions."

"Good answer, but wrong. I'm looking for something even higher."

"Nobody's higher than Central 46! Well, there is the Royal Family, but they leave Soul Society's running to Central, so we can't really count them..."

Ichigo smiled in s "bingo!" sort of way, and said, "That's right. The Royal family is the highest authority, and its members are extremely powerful Shinigami. The family is headed by the Spirit King, and he has 5 sons and daughters."

"H-How the hell do you know all this? I don't think even the Captains know what the Royal Family is like!"

Ichigo held up his hand and a small leather card holder suddenly materialized into his palm. He openedthe holder, and showed Rukia its contents. Rukia looked up at him with eyes as wide as saucers. Ichigo smiled and said, "I am Kurosaki Ichigo – Second Prince of the Royal Family of Soul Society."

_To be continued_

As you would have know by now, this story is about Ichigo being a member of the Royal Family of Soul Society. I have read a few stories that make use of this idea, like _Family Duties _by **Black Sun upon an Icy Sky**, and _Heir to the Throne_ by **Random Inspiration**. I thought that the basic idea behind those stories was great, so when an idea for such a story formed in my mind, I decided to contribute to the list of stories in which Ichigo is a Royal Family member.

In this story, Ichigo is the second Prince, meaning he is the second oldest. He has four siblings, and the people he saw in his flashbacks are those siblings. The blond man is his brother, the eldest sibling, the dark-blue haired woman is his younger sister, and the younger ones are twins, and the youngest of the siblings. These five are extremely powerful Shinigami, each with power greater than that of a captain.

The next chapter will be about Ichigo's memories of his days as a Prince before the event that led to him losing his memories and coming to live in Karakura Town.

Please review!


	2. Refresh my memory

The Dark Prince

Wow. Just...wow. I was having second thoughts about this story from the minute I posted it, and I was prepared to take it down if the response was not so great...but looking at the number of reviews, and the number of people who added this story to their favourite story lists or story alerts lists really gave me the boost of confidence I needed! Thanks everyone!

Before I begin, many of you might be wondering if I will be writing romance in this fic. My answer, at least at this point in time, is that it is up to you to decide, really. The two will be very close, and you could interpret it as Ichigo x Rukia if you want.

As for what really happens...we'll just have to wait and see. Yes, this includes me as well, since what I write and the way I write it depends on how I'm feeling when I write it, what shows I've been watching recently, etc.

There will be some Japanese words used in this chapter, because they are easier to use than the English translations. The Japanese words will be in italics and the translation will be provided at the end.

Chapter 2: Refresh my memory

Rukia's eyes went as wide as saucers. The card that this human, Kurosaki Ichigo, showed her had the symbol of the Royal Family. This emblem was one of the very few things that she knew of the Royal Family. Immediately, Rukia dropped to one knee and bowed her head out of respect and fear. She was not sure if Ichigo was truly a prince, or if he simply was a Royal Guardsman. Either way, his authority and status were light years ahead of hers.

"My deepest apologies! I have been rude to you!"

Ichigo looked at her in surprise, before realising why she did it, then said hurriedly, "No no, don't worry. You didn't know who I was. Look, even I didn't know I was a member of the Royal Family until my memories came back a few moments ago. Come on now, stand up. There's no need to bow to me."

"But-"

Before Rukia could speak another word, someone else appeared. It was none other than Kurosaki Isshin, and he was dressed in Shinigami's robes and had a tattered Captain's cloak worn on one shoulder. Unexpectedly, Isshin also kneeled before Ichigo and said in a very formal and respectful tone, "It is good to see that you have returned, _Ichigo denka_."

When he said that, the amazed Rukia thought, "_He really is a Prince! This man is an ex-captain, judging from the captain's cloak. His word can surely be trusted._"

Ichigo stared at him in surprise, before chuckling and saying, "Oh, come on, dad! Is that the way you address your son?"

"_Denka, _I may have been your father for the past 16 years, but now that you have your memories back, I am no longer your father. I am not worthy to have been your father for the past 16 years either!"

Ichigo looked at him seriously and said, "Don't say that! If you weren't there to raise me over the past 16 years, where would I be? It is true that I am a prince and you were my caretaker for the past 16 years, but that doesn't change the fact that you raised me as your own son! The truth remains that I view you as my father. So accept it already!"

Isshin looked up at him, taken aback by his reaction. Ichigo continued, "Not just you, but Mom, Karin and Yuzu as well. I loved her, and she is my only mother. Karin and Yuzu are my beloved sisters. Will you not accept me as your son any longer?"

Isshin bowed his head sadly and said, "It is true I have come to accept you as my son. When you were first born to Masaki and me, I recognized you as the Prince. I wanted to give you back to the Royal Family, but Masaki wanted so badly to raise you, and I could not refuse her. I was so wary. I trod on eggshells around you. Then, as time went by, I started viewing you as a normal boy, as my son. That was when my attitude towards you changed."

Ichigo chuckled, "Which was when you started attacking me in the morning." Isshin returned the chuckle and said, "I fully started taking your well-being as my son, and not as the prince, after your mother died. Your sadness was real, and I'm sure you feel it now as well."

"Indeed, I do. Look, whatever we are, whatever our statuses, _you are my parents_."

Isshin smiled and said, "That, I am willing to accept. Hey, what's that?"

Ichigo looked up – then immediately dodged, as Isshin's fist came up fast to hit his chin.

"You never were good at creating distractions, dad!"

"Good dodge, son! I have nothing left to teach you!"

Rukia sweatdropped at the way their conversation had gone from serious to emotional to comical, but did not say anything. Ichigo turned around back to her once he was finished talking to his father. He said kindly to her, "You're injured. You can stay at our place until your wounds are healed."

Rukia could barely fathom the concept of staying under the same roof as a Prince of the Royal Family. It was already a very high honour to be an adopted member of the Kuchiki Family, but accepting such an invitation from a Prince himself was too much for the petite Shinigami. Rukia said quietly, "I'm afraid I cannot accept such a request, your Highness. I am but a lowly unranked Shinigami, and I mean nothing before you. I am not worthy to-"

"What on earth are you talking about, Rukia? You mean a lot to me! If it weren't for you, I would have never regained my memories! And if I hadn't regained my memories, we both would have died from that Hollow's attack. Besides, nobody means nothing. Even the lowest Shinigami is a human and deserves respect for that. You were only doing your duty tonight, and you got injured because of it. Now, come, I'll heal your injuries."

His little speech shook Rukia to her core. His way of thinking was compassionate, and had in it a grace that even the Captains could not match. Rukia silently reflected that Soul Society was probably fortunate to have a man like Ichigo watching over them as a Prince. She bowed once again and said, "It will be an honour, your Highness."

Ichigo laughed and said, "Don't call me that! My name is Ichigo, please address me by that name."

Then, Ichigo turned to his father and asked, "Are there any Shinigami in this town other than the three of us?"

"Well, there's Kisuke, Yoruichi and Tessai."

"Huh? Kisuke and Yoruichi? What are they doing here? Did they resign or something?"

"Well, it's a complicated matter. I think they would be glad to explain it all to you."

Then, a voice rang out from a few metres away, "Of course we would be glad. His Highness deserves the truth." The three reapers turned around to see Urahara, Yoruichi and Tessai, all of whom approached Ichigo and bowed low.

Ichigo smiled and said, "It's good to see you again, Kisuke, Yoruichi, Tessai! You felt my spiritual pressure and deduced that my memories came back, huh?"

"Yes, we did. What do you say to a catch-up session, your Highness? You have been dead for close to a century, and you have to know the events that have occured since." said Yoruichi with a smile.

Ichigo replied, "Yeah, I'd like that. Come in." He then walked over to Rukia and helped her up, which made her rather flustered. Everyone walked back into the house, and once Rukia was seated, Ichigo sat next to her and held his hand over her wounds. His hand started glowing a soft blue colour and Rukia's wound started healing. Then, Ichigo looked to Kisuke and said, "Well then, why don't you start, Kisuke? I died about 130 years ago, tell me everything that has gone on since."

Urahara nodded and filled him in on what had happened. Ichigo was slightly surprised when Urahara started talking about Aizen Sosuke, and said, "That name sounds somewhat familiar...What rank does this Aizen hold?"

Urahara replied, "A decade after you died, Aizen Sosuke was promoted to Vice-Captain of the Fifth Division. Currently, he is the captain of said division. Outwardly, he seems like a friendly man who genuinely cares for the safety of his subordinates and colleagues. But, he is a very dangerous man, and while I do not know what his aims are, I have no doubt that they are very threatening to the Gotei-13. He is a wolf in sheep's skin, waiting for his chance to strike, and when he does, Soul Society will take a devestating blow. He has two loyal subordinates: Tosen Kaname, Captain of the Ninth Division, and Ichimaru Gin, Captain of the third division."

Rukia was astounded at these words. Three former Captains were levelling grievous charges againt three current captains, and what's more, Ichigo showed no signs of disbelief. Urahara continued his explanation, stating the evil things that Aizen had done to the men and women who would beocme the Vizards. Stunned, Ichigo asked, "He forcibly Hollowfied them?"

"Yes, indeed. Thankfully, I had a object with me that was able to stabilise them completely: The Hogyoku. With this tool, they were able to survive. However, I was wrongfully accused by Central 46 of being the perpetrator of Aizen's crime, and Tessai, the Vizards and I would have been in great trouble if Yoruichi hadn't rescued us. After that, we came to the Living World and here we are."

Ichigo nodded and said, "I see. So that's what has happened while I was dead. If three Captains are going to rebel against Soul Society, then we must stop them. Most of you here used to be Captains, so we should be able to do something very effectively."

Rukia cut in, "Wait! How can this be? Aizen is one of the most well-liked Captains in Soul Society! He is known to be a caring leader and very skilled in the Shinigami arts. Captain Tosen is famous for his strong sense of Jusice. How can you level such grievous charges against them? Who are you people anyway?"

Ichigo held up a hand and said, "Oh yeah, we haven't introduced them yet. They are Urahara Kisuke, Shihoin Yoruichi and Tsukabishi Tessai. They are former Captains of Soul Society, and also were friends of mine before I died. When they were younger, I would occassionally pay them a visit in the Shihoin mansion and train them."

Tessai said in his deep voice, "Indeed, without the training given to us by his Highness, the three of us would never have become Captains."

"Just how old are you, your highness?"

The others chuckled at the question, and Ichigo said with a straight face, "I am 2900 years old. If you count the time for which I was dead, and the time I spent as a normal human, I am 3046 years old. The royal family all have some special characteristics and abilities, and aging extremely slowly, even by Shinigami standards, is one of those characteristics. The same goes for being reborn after dying once. Anyway, I trust Kisuke. He has no reason to lie to us about something like this. Even if we can't believe him, we can check with the other Captains and Lieutenants who went into self-exile after the hollowfication experiments were performed on them."

Rukia reluctantly accepted this and asked Urahara, "If Captain Aizen is truly an enemy of Soul Society, he has masked his true face very well. Do you know what he is after?"

"Why, yes, I do. He is after the Hogyoku – the object that was first used to create the Vizards. The Hogyoku's power is to break down the barrier seperating Shinigami powers from Hollow powers. If Aizen had many Shinigami at his disposal, he could use the Hogyoku to make them into an army of powerful Shinigami-Hollow hybrids. However, the chances of such an event happening are very slim, as only Captain and Lieutenant level Shinigami can handle the Hollowfication process and emerge stronger than before. Other souls will disintegrate, unable to handle the great spiritual energy boost to their bodies."

Yoruichi said thoughtfully, "So that means he will have to resort to Hollows instead."

"I believe that is what he intends to do. He could recruit powerful Hollows and give them Shinigami powers to create a Hollow army. These hybrids would be extremely powerful, and Soul Society will no doubt find it a challenge to defeat their army."

Ichigo considered all his options and asked, "Alright, anyone has any ideas on what to do?"

Everyone fell silent, as they thought carefully about their next move. Urahara broke the silence and said, in a slightly embarassed tone, "Well, I had a plan, originally. I knew that Soul Society would, sooner or later, send a Shinigami to this town because of the increasing number of Hollow attacks. My plan was to give a Gigai to that Shinigami with the Hogyoku within it. That way, the Shinigami would later lose his powers and become a regular human, and the Hogyoku would merge with his soul and be lost forever."

Ichigo looked at him exasperatedly and said, "You were planning to do that to Rukia, weren't you? Look, this whole problem doesn't even involve her! How can you drag her into this mess just like that? She shouldn't even be here, she's putting herself in danger just by listening to us discuss our strategies!"

Urahara looked ashamed, but Rukia then spoke, "No. Now that I know the truth, I cannot shy away from your undertaking. I may just be a lowly unranked Shinigami, but please let me help! I'll do what I can!"

Ichigo was about to protest, but Isshin cut in, " This will be a dangerous undertaking, Rukia. We have many strong people on our side, but even so, we cannot guarantee winning against Aizen. Knowing all this, will you still work with us?"

"I will!"

Yoruichi patted her on the back and said, "Welcome aboard, girl!" while Ichigo shook his head in defeat, then said, "Alright, it's pretty late now. Shall we meet again tomorrow, to continue discussing our plans?"

"Sure, _denka_."

With that, the three ex-Captains left. Isshin bid his son goodnight, and went to sleep. Ichigo turned to Rukia and led her to his room.

"I have some extra mattresses in the closet, take the bed, I can use these."

Rukia replied, "I can't do that, _denka_! You should have the bed! I-I can sleep in the closet, actually! It looks really fine."

Ichigo looked at her strangely and chuckled, "If you say so."

"_Denka_, if you don't mind me asking,...what is the Royal Family like?"

"Like I said, just call me Ichigo, alright? So you want to know about the Royal Family? How about I tell you some of the events in my life related to them?"

"Alright, Den-Ichigo."

"That's better. That's much better! Now, I am the Second Prince of the Royal Family. I have four siblings, and the five of us live in the Royal Dimension, accessible to other Shinigami only through the King's Key, although we can open it without the key. My older brother, the first Prince, is a man named Isaac. _Aniue_ is the head of us siblings, and he has authority greater than ours. The first Princess is my younger sister Fionna. The two youngest siblings are Marco and Marie, the twins. All of us are at least 1500 years old, and we have special abilities and authority."

"What kind of abilities?"

"Our Kido is perfectly efficient. We can use an ability called _Raiko no Tsubasa_, which can actually be used by any Shinigami, with the proper training. It's kind of difficult to explain all this now, so wait till we get into a scrap with a few hollows, then maybe I'll show you. In fact, maybe I could train you in some techniques to prepare you for the fight against Aizen and his army later."

"Train me?"

Rukia thought about it. She knew that her abilities were of a low level. If she was to bring honour to her squad and to the Kuchiki Family, she needed to train. Immediately, she made up her mind and bowed low to Ichigo, saying, "Please grant me the honour of training with you, your highness!"

Ichigo chuckled and said, "Alright then! Training starts tomorrow, so get your rest!"

"Understood!"

_To be continued_

Translations

_Denka_ – "your highness". _"Ichigo denka_" is a respectful way to address Second Prince Ichigo. This was borrowed from Code Geass, where the Princes were addressed as _denka_. _Heika_ is the equivalent of _denka_, but is used for the king/emperor.

_Aniue_ – respectful, and somewhat archaic, way to address/refer to an older brother.

_Raiko no tsubasa – _Wings of lightning. A technique that will be shown later.

The Royal Family - Isaac, Fionna, Marco and Marie - will appear later. This is the reason why they were not discussed so much here.


	3. Letting you die would be too painful

The Dark Prince

Chapter 3: Letting you die would be too painful

Several days passed since Ichigo first regained his memories, and unable to find a suitable plan to expose Aizen, his team had been reduced to waiting for their enemy to make his opening move. In the meantime, Ichigo and Rukia both took up the job of cleansing hollows and sending spirits to the afterlife. The two of them were able to coordinate their moves and attacks to make an efficient team, despite the vast difference in their power. Things went smoothly for about a week, but did the peace last? Of course not.

At the rooftop in school

Rukia heard her phone beeping, and looked at it. She and Ichigo quickly made up an excuse to their friends and left the place to make their way to the Hollow. As they went, Ichigo asked casually, "Rukia, did you notice anyone staring at us when we left the school?"

Rukia replied, "No, I didn't notice anything out of the ordinary."

"It must have been my imagination, then."

The two soon reached a deserted alley where the Hollow reportedly was. However, all they found was a Plus soul cowering in the corner. Ichigo looked at him in surprise, then extended his senses around the area. A familiar spiritual pressure was faintly lingering in the air. Ichigo smiled slightly, then looked up. On top of a nearby building, there was a shadowy figure. As soon as Ichigo's eyes passed over him, the mysterious man tensed, then left the place using a flash step. As this happened, the oblivious Rukia questioned the spirit.

"Sir, could you tell us exactly what happened? Was there a monster here?"

"Y-yes, there was, m-miss…It was big and scary, and wanted to eat me, but then suddenly it just disintegrated into nothing!"

Rukia snapped, "Are you lying to me? Only we can cause Hollows to disappear, and we just appeared!"

The man looked even more frightened, as Rukia scolded him, but Ichigo suddenly stopped her, saying, "Rukia, I think I know what happened. Let's send him off."

Rukia looked surprised, but did so, and the two of them started walking back to school. Rukia turned to Ichigo and asked, "So, what exactly happened back there? What was it that you figured out?"

"Oh you'll soon see. He can't keep hiding forever. His pride won't let him."

Rukia was puzzled by this answer, but did not want to press. For the next few days, Ichigo did not respond to the Hollow attacks, and ordered Rukia not to go either. Every time a Hollow appeared in the real world, the two would stay put, and after a few minutes, the Hollow would just disappear from Rukia's phone's hollow detector. Rukia was unable to find an explanation for this bizarre phenomenon, but Ichigo seemed to simply be testing a hypothesis by not responding to the Hollow threat. And, it seemed, his hypothesis was being proven correct with every Hollow that disappeared off Rukia's detector.

Rukia simply got more tense as the days went by, as she hated standing by and doing nothing while Hollows invaded the real world, even if some mysterious tranger was doing their work for them. If anything, the unknown identity of their "helper" simply made Rukia more suspicious. Much to her relief, Ichigo seemed to be making his move. At school, he happened to be talking to his good friend Tatsuki, who was with Inoue. Ichigo said, "Did you both hear about the top-scorer this term, a guy named Ishida Uryu? Do you know him?"

Inoue answered in her usual bubbly manner, "Yeah! He's a really solitary guy, but his grades are top-notch, and he's in the sewing club! He seems to like being alone, but he's really nice to people who come to him for help."

Tatsuki added teasingly, "I also heard he's a quite the gentleman, always polite to the girls, and will do things they ask him to do, like helping them sew things and stuff like that. You should be more like him, Ichigo."

Ichigo scowled and muttered something under his breath. After chatting a while more, he went back home and told Rukia, "Alright, Rukia. Since you're so tense about this whole mysterious hollow-slaying stranger, we can start business as soon as the next Hollow strikes. Let's go out into town in our Shinigami forms, and split up. As soon as we sense a Hollow, we'll get there as soon as possible, masking as much of our reiatsu as possible. We should be able to catch the man in his act."

"If you're saying that, then you must know something about all this. Could I hear it please?"

"Sure. It's this guy called Ishida Uryu. He's got some spiritual pressure on him, and he seems like the only one able to take on the Hollows. It is rare to find humans with enough reiatsu to fight Hollows, but it is possible. Only problem is that he was masking most of his reiatsu, so I couldn't tell what kind of pressure it was."

"That's an impressive observation, your highness." replied Rukia. Ichigo waved it off, then got out of his Shinigami form for the first time in front of Rukia*. Rukia noticed that he was not wearing the standard Shinigami uniform, but was in back slacks, a white shirt, black necktie, black vest and a black frock coat**. Ichigo looked at it and muttered, "Looks like I'm in the same clothes I died in..."

"But they look brand new, sir. It seems as if you died in a very non-violent manner."

"Let's not talk about my death, shall we? Now, as soon as we get outside, I'll go East, and you go West. Mask as much of your reiatsu as possible. As soon as you sense a Hollow, head straight for it as fast as you can, got that?"

"Understood!"

The two reapers jumped out of the window, and went their seperate ways. Rukia ran off, masking her reiatsu, while Ichigo walked casually, in the direction of the school, wondering how long the next Hollow would take to enter the real world. Luckily for him, he did not have to wait for long. He heard the tell-tale roar of a Hollow when he had walked for ten minutes. Immediately, he flash-stepped towards the Hollow's location. Extending his senses, he realized that his quarry was also responding. As he expected, the Hollow's reiatsu disappeared, but Ichigo had a firm mental grasp on his target's reiatsu, and followed it. Soon, he came to the place where he had felt the reiatsu a few seconds before.

Nobody was there. Ichigo looked around half-disappointed, half-alert. Then, someone spoke, "Hello there, _Shinigami_." saying the last word like it was poison. Ichigo looked behind and saw the black-haired, bespectacled boy he had been asking Tatsuki and Inoue about earlier. He smiled slightly and said, "Well, hello there. I was wondering who was it that was defeating those Hollows left, right and centre, doing our job for us. He turns out to be a teenager. I must admit, you've managed to impress me already."

Ishida Uryu smiled and said sarcastically, "I didn't do it for you. But you're welcome anyway, Kurosaki Ichigo."

Ichigo dropped his smile and looked more serious. He asked, "Ok, seriously, why did you kill those Hollows, even though you have no obligation to? Is it because you desire to protect the citizens of this town? You could have left that to us."

"You think I would trust this town to the likes of you? What you just said is partially true. I do wish to protect this town, but that's not all.I detest Shinigami, and I wish to have a battle with you. I wish to prove that this world does not need you."

Ichigo stared at him, scrutinizing his expression. Then, he materialized his sword into his hand and said, "Looks like you're serious. You're staking your honour on this, and I shouldn't turn you down without good reason. Very well, Ishida Uryu, I'll accept this battle with you. But first, do tell me: What exactly are you? I am a Shinigami, and just about everyone in this town is a human, so what are you?"

Ishida's cold face showed some expression as he replied, "I am a Quincy, a member of an ancient race dedicated to protecting humans from Hollows."

When he said that, Ichigo appeared shocked. Then, he calmed down and sheathed his sword. With a slightly sad voice, he said, "So you _are_ a Quincy. I was hoping I was wrong, but...it seems I was right. My apologies, but I cannot fight you."

Ishida looked surprised by this, but composed himself and tried to goad Ichigo, "What, are you scared, Shinigami?"

Ichigo glared at him, then assumed his calm expression once more and said, "Yes, I am scared. I'm scared that I might accidentally kill one of the last of the Quincies. If a race or species is almost extince, one should always take extra care not to let it die out. And you're no different."

This made Ishida furious. He shouted, "I don't need your pity!" and crushed a small white coin he was holding in his hand. Ichigo looked at him, startled and asked sharply, "What did you just do?"

With a smirk, the Quincy replied, "I just crushed some Hollow bait. Within seconds, Hollows will come through in their dozens. Let's have a match, shall we? The winner is the one who slays the most Hollows. I'll definitely beat you, Kurosaki Ichigo! This world does not need Shinigami!"

Ichigo looked at him icily and said, "Do you understand what you've done? This entire town has been put in danger, because of you! And why even bring Hollows into this? Do you think they're like animals, to be hunted down for sport? They may be monsters now, but they used to be normal humans, for heaven's sake! By killing them with those arrows of yours, you're denying them the afterlife they deserve! Do you not see that?"

"Hollows are nothing more than mindless killers. As long as I am alive, I will continue putting them down like the beasts they are. I swear this, on the pride of the Quincy!"

Ichigo shook his head in furious disappointment. At that moment, Rukia ran up to the two of them. Ichigo turned to her and said, "Rukia! Glad you're here. We have a problem, dozens of Hollows are going to enter the real world. I can take them on my own, and I am going to go to some of the higher-risk areas in this town to deal with the threat there. Rukia, I want you to fight along with Ishida Uryu here."

Rukia and Ishida looked at him like he had grown a second head. Before either could protest, Ichigo continued, "Rukia, protect him. I can't have him dying here. Once the situation is under control, I'll explain everything to both of you."

With that, Ichigo disappeared, leaving the Shinigami and Quincy standing there staring at each other suspiciously. Coldly, Ishida formed his bow and fired it at the distant Hollows. More Hollows came in closer, and Rukia took care of them. One got too close to Ishida, and he could not use his bow, but Rukia immediately ran over to him and defeated the Hollow.

"I don't need your help, Shinigami!"

"It's not like I want to help you either! But orders must be obeyed, especially from one with as much authority as him!"

"Him, authority? How can that be? He's just a teenager!"

"You'll see later!"

The two of themcontinued fighting the Hollows, then suddenly, a large crack opened in the sky. Out of it stepped a massive Hollow with a pointed nose, and dressed in a pure black robe. Rukia looked at it in awe, saying, "That's...a Menos Grande! Stay back, Quincy! We can't fight that, not at our current level!"

"I know! Of course I know my own limits!"

The Menos looked down at the two, who immediately started running from the place. In response, the giant hollow charged up a cero, then fired it at them. Ishida and Rukia were rooted to the spot in fear, looking at the incoming ball of destructive Spiritual energy. They both squeezed shut their eyes, not daring to look at their impending doom. Then, suddenly, Ichigo flash-stepped in front of them, and swung his sword in a wide arc at the cero. Instantly, the cero dissipated, the energy completely dispersed by Ichigo's powerful swing. In a flash, Ichigo had jumped up to several metres above the Menos, then, holding his sword outward, he flew down towards it, slashing at it and completely severing its head from its body.

He landed before the stunned Ishida and Rukia and coldly looked at Ishida before punching him hard. Ignoring the Quincy's cries of indignation, Ichigo muttered, "Maybe what I did 200 years ago was a mistake."

Rukia asked, "200 years ago? What happened then?"

Ichigo glanced at Ishida to make sure that he was listening as well, before saying, "200 years ago, there was a war between Shinigami and Quincies. The reason was that the Quincies wipe out a Hollow's spirit completely with their methods of killing. This prevented the Hollow's soul from being sent to Soul Society, or being reincarnated in the real world. This offset the equilibrium of souls leaving and entering the Soul Society and the real world, and this is a problem that could potentially destroy both worlds. Earlier, there had been talks between the two groups. But, later, talks broke down, and fueled by the warmongers on both sides, the fight began. I was informed on it when the war was nearing its end, when almost all the Quincies were dead. I didn't want the Quincy to die out, so I ordered a ceasefire on the Shinigami side immediately, and made sure all the dead Quincies got a Soul Burial. Then, I looked for all the living Quincies I could find and made sure they survived. I scattered them all over the world and asked them to keep a low profile. To this day, the descendants of those I saved still live on."

Ishida listened to all this, taken aback by Ichigo's words. Struggling to find words, he said, "B-B-but that was 200 years ago! How could you have been alive?"

"I was alive at that point. I died 130 years ago, and I was reborn 16 years ago. It was only recently that I regained my memories and resumed the duties of a Shinigami. My place in the Shinigami hierarchy is unimportant, and maybe I'll tell it to you next time. What I told you just then is all true."

"You're saying that the Ishidas survived because of you?"

"That's right. I never wanted to kill you because you were people I tried hard to save so many years ago. That's why I discouraged the battle between us, and asked Rukia to protect you. Now, let me ask you – Why do you consider Shinigami your enemy? We have a common goal – to protect the real world from Hollows."

"The Shinigami have insulted my race. I have heard reports that the Quincy sent to Soul Society had been mistreated by Soul Society."

Ichigo considered this, and said, "Is that so? I'll make sure to look into it. Now, I'd like to ask you to work with us, and not against us, in the future. We don't wish to be your enemies, and I ask that you consider us as allies as well. We are not here to kill you or the rest of your race."

Then, without waiting for a reply, Ichigo walked off, with a slightly surprised Rukia walking behind him.

The next day, at school 

As soon as Ichigo and Rukia entered school, Sado and Inoue walked up to them.

"Ichigo, do you have a moment? We have to talk to you about something."

_To be continued_

*In the first chapter, when Ichigo regained his memories, he did not get out of his body. He simply materialized his sword into his human body's hand and defeated the Hollow.

**Ichigo's death was close to a century ago. So he uses Victorian-style clothes, hence the Frock Coat.

Note: This week is my one week break, then two weeks later, its exams. During the Holidays, I will make three updates, of which this is the first. The other two updates will be for _Black Moon Rising_ and for another one of my stories, probably _The Organisation_. After that, I will be taking a break from writing any new chapters. You can expect one of my stories to be updated anytime after October 10th or so.

Thanks for the reviews and support, everyone!

I'll be back in a while :)


	4. The Opening Gambit

The Dark Prince

I know I said that I said I would update _Black Moon Rising_ and _The Organisation_, but due to an unfortunate incident involving lost data, I am unable to update _The Organisation_ just yet (Basically I lost the file that contained the detailed outline for _The Organisation_. I can't remember all the details, so it will be a while before that story gets updated). _Black Moon Rising_ will be updated later this week, so for now, I give you Chapter 4 of _The Dark Prince_. Hope you enjoy this!

Notice that Inoue addresses Ichigo by his name in this fic. It's somewhat out of character, but then again, just about everyone else is OOC. And besides, it's better this way, isn't it? I'm sure "Kurosaki-kun" does not mind either ^.^

Chapter 4: The opening gambit

Sado and Inoue approached Ichigo when he walked into school, and Inoue asked, "We have to talk to you about something, Ichigo. Do you have a moment?"

Rukia, at that moment, left Ichigo so he could talk alone. As Ichigo walked with them to a place where they could talk, he asked, "So...what's this about?"

"Strange things have been happening recently. We both discovered we can see people who recently died, and we can communicate with them as well. And just yesterday, something even more incredible happened. And it involved you, Rukia and Uryu."

"And I'm guessing it also involved a bunch of monsters, including one that was the size of a skyscraper and was killed by me."

"...Yeah, that too."

Ichigo sighed, knowing he had quite an explanation to give them. He said, "Alright, in that case, let's go to the sewing club's room first. Uryu needs to hear this as well."

Several minutes later, Ichigo, Sado, Inoue and Ishida were seated on the roof, away from prying ears. Ichigo explained spirits and Hollows, and the events of the previous day. Sado and Inoue listened closely while Ishida helped Ichigo fill in some of the gaps and confirmed the story's truth. When it was over, Inoue spoke, "Yesterday, I came too close to one of those monsters. It started to attack Tatsuki, Chizuru and me, and I could do nothing against it at first, but then suddenly I was granted the power to fight back."

She placed her hands on her hairpins and concentrated, calling out to the six fairies that gave her power to fight against the Hollows. The fairies immediately manifested before the amazed three amazed guys. After explaining their powers, the fairies disappeared. Then Sado also spoke about his power, but was unable to show it to them, as he had not mastered it just yet.

After that, Sado and Inoue looked expectantly at Ichigo and asked, "We saw you fighting yesterday, Ichigo. Just who are you, really?"

Ichigo smiled slightly and said, "When a human dies in this world, his body and soul will seperate. The soul, however, cannot stay here forever, it has to go on to the afterlife. That's the job of a Soul Reaper – That's what I am."

Sado replied, "Yes, we already know that. A man named Mr. Urahara Kisuke told us yesterday that you were a Soul Reaper and that you were doing your job. But how long have you been doing this?"

Ishida spoke up, "Unbelievably long, from what I hear. But I'd rather know something else – The Shinigami are like a military, and they have ranks like human armies. What is your rank, Kurosaki?"

Before the Prince could answer, a black cat suddenly ran up to the group and looking at Ichigo, it said, "Your Highness, Central 46 has ordered Rukia's arrest. We think that the decision may have been influenced by Aizen himself."

"What? Where is Rukia now?"

"She's at the Shop."

"Alright, let's go. This requires immediate attention."

Everyone looked at Ichigo and the cat in confusion.

"A-a cat just talked!"

"What did the cat mean by 'your highness'?"

"Ichigo, what's this all about?"

Ichigo turned back to face his friends and after some hesitation, said, "You guys really shouldn't concern yourselves with this. It's going to be dangerous-"

Yoruichi suddenly cut in, "Actually, Urahara wants to see them, so they should come too. You guys can call me Yoruichi."

Everyone sweatdropped at what the cat just said, and Ichigo snapped, "Look, Yoruichi-"

"Even if you had ordered me to keep them out of this, Urahara would have found some way to get to them. Anyway, aren't they your friends? They should at least know about your past, and what you're about to do, right?"

Ichigo shook his head in frustation, then said, "Fine. You guys come with us. I'll explain on the way."

On the way 

"So, you're a Prince from the royal family that holds authority over the afterlife?"

"That's right."

"And you died 130 years ago, then you were reborn as a normal human. Then recently, you got back your memories of being a Prince."

"Yeah."

"I have to say...that's not very believable. Sure, you seem to speak with a natural authority now, and you have people addressing you as 'your highness'. But, that's not really enough."

Ichigo replied, "I thought you might say that. Yoruichi, is Urahara's device ready?"

"Yes, it is. We can establish a connection, but we need the password from you first."

"What device?"

"It's a communicator that I am going to use to speak with someone."

"Who?"

"My siblings." said Ichigo, unexpectedly. Later, when they were in the shop, Urahara led Ichigo to a room with a large screen attached to the wall. He left the room, and asked evryone else to leave too, to give Ichigo some privacy.

The screen flickered on, and asked for a password. Ichigo entered the password, and it was accepted. Then, on the screen came the face of a young woman with dark blue hair. She looked with narrow eyes at Ichigo, then her eyes widened with recognition. Ichigo chuckled, "It's been a while, Fionna!"

"_Aniue_! You've been reborn! How long has it been since then?"

"16 years. I only recently got back my memories."

"I see. It's really great to see you again, Ichigo! Hold on, let me call the others."

A moment later, in ran an excited-looking boy and girl who looked very similar to one another enthusiastically came over and said, "Onii-sama!"

"Hey, Marie, Marco! How are you both?"

The girl answered, "We're ok! We missed you since you died so long ago...When are you returning home?"

At this, Ichigo's face fell slightly, and he answered, "I'm sorry, you guys. I won't be able to come home for a while. I have some stuff to take care of in the Soul Society. It'll be a while, but I'll surely come sometime! Fionna, is _Aniue_ there? I'd like to speak with him in private."

"Sure, i'll call him over. _Aniue – _Ichigo...everyone here's missed you a lot in the decades you've been gone. Could you please come back as soon as you're done?"

"Of course, Fionna. It's not fair to simply ditch you guys for work. But this is something major, Isaac can explain it to you later. I can't avoid this. But as soon as it's over, I'll make sure to come back home to you guys. Love you, Fionna, Marco, Marie."

"Love you too!"

The three laughing siblings left, and in came a slightly older looking man with blond hair. Ichigo inclined his head slightly and said respectfully, "It's been a while, _Aniue_."

"Too long, Ichigo! We all were waiting and hoping that you would regain your memories and contact us. And now, here you are, looking just as you did when you left us all those years ago!" said the man in an easy-going, casual voice.

"Now, _Aniue_, I have something important to tell you. The current Fifth Division Captain, Aizen Sosuke, is secretly planning a rebellion against Soul Society. He wants to use an object that will allow him to give a Shinigami Hollow powers, and vice versa. Right now, my rebirth is unknown to Soul Society, and I plan on entering Soul Society to try and stop him."

"A rebellion? That sounds bad. What's your backup plan, if the man gets away?"

"Then I'll just have to assist the Shinigami in fighting against his army."

The other man looked concerned for a while, then said, "Alright then. Take care, Ichigo. You've just been reborn, and I don't want you to die so fast. Come back home as soon as you're done with the work over there, ok?"

"Of course, _Aniue_."

The screen faded to black with that, and Ichigo stepped out, feeling happy that he could speak to his brothers and sisters, but at the same time, sad that he could not join them just yet. He walked into the room where everyone else was seated. Urahara snapped open his fan and said, "Ah, now that his Highness has joined us, we can start. Firstly, Ms Kuchiki is wanted by the Soul Society authorities. The official reason, we hear, is that she has stayed fro too long in the Real World. We think that Aizen is behind this decision, as he wants the Hogyoku, which, as far as he should know, is in Ms Kuchiki's soul. Luckily, it is not there, and I have it in a safe place now. Ms Kuchiki is safe here, but Aizen really wants the Hogyoku, so he might ask that a Captain may be sent."

"Ok, so has there been any captains here lately?"

"Well, none so far, but we can expect one to come soon. What do you think we should do, your Highness?"

"I think going to Soul Society is the best option. Over there, if we can unmask Aizen, we'd have the whole Shinigami army on our side. Here, we'd have limited forces. I'll go there, along with Rukia, and try to speak to the Captain Commander. I should be able to convince him."

"Well, I can agree with that, but getting within Soul Society will be difficult. Majority of the Shinigami don't know you, and you won't be able to convince them of your identity. Not to mention, Aizen will also be keeping a close watch on everything. If he hears you're a Prince, your life may be in danger."

Ichigo's mind drifted to his earlier conversation with Fionna and remembered his promise to come back to his siblings. He thought a bit, then said, "In that case, I'll pretend to be a regular Shinigami. I'll enter Seireitei along with Rukia, and try to get to the First Division Offices as soon as I can. Once I get there, I can talk to the Commander. Hopefully, Rukia will also be allowed to enter without anyone suspecting her."

"Well, it's the only plan we've got, we might as well do it."

Sado then cut in, "We'll come too."

"Do you guys understand-"

Urahara interrupted, "Actually, I believe that's a good idea. Your skills can be improved by going to Soul Society. I imagine there will be a bit of fighting there, and this will be a good chance to get stronger."

Ichigo snapped, "Geez, why does everyone keep interrupting me today when I'm trying to keep them out of danger..." but in the end, he agreed to it anyway.

A week later, when the Senkai Gate is prepared 

Ichigo and the others had once again gathered in the Urahara shop's basement. There, they stood in front of the gate that Urahara had been creating, ready to go to Soul Society. Over the past week, they had been training. Yoruichi had taken Sado and Inoue under her wing, Ichigo had trained Rukia, and Ishida had been learning a new technique on his own. Everyone had gotten slightly more skilled, although the the second-strongest in the group, Yoruichi, was way more skilled than everyone else, and Ichigo, the strongest, was even more skilled than her in the Shinigami arts.

As Urahara stood by to open the gate, Ichigo turned to the group and instructed, "Sado, Ishida, Inoue, Rukia, the four of you hold on tightly to each other's wrists."

The three humans were surprised, but did so, and Ichigo then cast a kido spell to create a glowing rope, with which he bound their hands to each others'.

"Kurosaki, why are you tying our hands together?"

Yoruichi sighed, "You're doing _that_ again, aren't you?"

"Only as a last resort, Yoruichi. You guys will see later."

Urahara then opened the gate, and everyone stepped through. Everyone started running, since they only had four minutes to get to the other side. However, they soon ran into trouble. The 'janitor' was active, and it started chasing them. The group of six broke into a sprint, but the janitor was still gaining on them. Ichigo shouted, "I'm going to do it now, Yoruichi! Hold on to my hand and Rukia's!"

Yoruichi sighed, "This should be fun. If I don't throw up in the end, that is."

She grabbed Rukia's hand, then with her free hand, she took Ichigo's hand. Because of this, and the Kido spell, everyone was connected in a line. With that, Ichigo shouted, "_Raiko no Tsubasa_!"

Everyone else saw a bright flash of blue light, before blacking out. After a few moments, they came to, and found themselves in a completely different environment altogether. There were wooden houses some distance away, and there were some people looking at them strangely. Ichigo was standing up and observing his surroundings. When he noticed that the others were awake, he clapped his hands and said loudly, "Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to Soul Society!"

_To be continued _

Now, for some notes.

Firstly, to HitsugayaToshirou1220, congrats once again, and the questions you asked will be answered at the conclusion of this story's soul society arc.

Ichigo, in this story, has strength and skills exceeding those he has in canon, but at the same time, he has greater control here. So, he can seal his sword and use Kido. This is in response to Kinglumption's question, and it is something that I wanted everyone else to know as well.

Another reader, Just some advice commented that the royal family members all have non-Japanese names, except Ichigo. This is because they are an international bunch, and they don't just represent Japan. The royal family members are Isaac (the blonde man who was addressed as _Aniue_ by Ichigo, he's the oldest), Fionna (Dark-blue haired woman), and the twins Marco and Marie. This is the royal family, and that's why Marie addressed Ichigo as "Onii-sama". Just to refresh your memory, _Aniue_ is a respectful way to address an older brother, similar to "Onii-sama" which should be more familiar among Bleach fans, given Rukia's frequent usage of it when addressing Byakuya.

Finally, _Raiko no Tsubasa_ means "Wings of Lightning" and it is a technique that Ichigo uses. It will be explained in greater detail later, when Ichigo uses it in battle and seriously pwns some unlucky fellow. But for now, feel free to guess exactly what kind of technique _Raiko no Tsubasa_ is! Your clues are that it gave off a bright blue light, and that it caused everyone to black out. Have fun guessing :D


	5. The stratagem commences

The Dark Prince

Hello once again, everyone! How've all of you been? Good, I hope? Things are great on this end, with my exams over! Hopefully, I've done well, but there's no point in worrying about that until the results come in first, right? And that's why I'm writing this chapter instead of brooding over the results.

Since I've gone for so long, I've decided to deliver a slightly longer chapter than usual – longer in terms of not just story content, but also a long author's note at the bottom, because I have a lot of things to say to all of you, as a writer to readers, and as a fellow Bleach reader myself. It may sound really boring, listening to me ramble on, but I'd recommend everyone to read the author's note, because I've found some ironies relating to the voice actors in Bleach, and they really gave me a laugh when I found out about it.

Now then, something important, relating to the story

Ever tried writing a story with an original character created by someone else, especially when that character has been described to a tee? Mind you, it's tough! It's tough, but also, more importantly, it's really fun, because of all the possibilities.

And how does this relate to _The Dark Prince_? It is related because such a character is coming into this story: An OC that was created by a reader. This character's name is Murayama Katsurou (his first name is Katsurou), and he was created by FanFiction member Ghost Writer Orange-kun, a fellow reader of Bleach (and Code Geass!) fan fiction. He put in a lot of effort into this character, providing important details like his Zanpakuto (even the spirit, not just his releases), his relationships with others, etc (Good news to those who want to see a pairing, he is involved in one himself). He's been a great help, and while I generally don't use OC's, this story needs them, as we're dealing with the Royal Family and other associated elements, of which we know so little. So, great job, and a million thanks, Ghost Writer Orange-kun!

Now, instead of just giving you all of Katsurou's details in one shot, I'll start off by having him make his first appearance in this chapter. Shards of his personality will fall into place as we proceed, and by the end of the story, you'll have a complete picture of this amazing character. Now, Orange-kun, you can take your well-deserved rest, while I write. I'll try my best to make Katsurou fit in as smoothly as possible. Do review and rate my performance :)

Alright then, before we begin, I shall quote here a small exchange from _Doctor Who_, between the Ninth Doctor and the Daleks. I felt it relates to Ichigo in a way. His enemies know how to use his impulsive 'rush-in-think-later' personality to their advantage, so why doesn't he try to use it to throw them off-guard? It'd be so cool if he really did that. Of course, I do not own _Doctor Who_. I just think it's awesome!

The quote

**The Doctor:** No! 'Cause this is what I'm going to do: I'm going to rescue her! I'm going to save Rose Tyler from the middle of the Dalek fleet! And then I'm going to save the Earth! And then, just to finish off, I'm going to wipe every last **stinking** Dalek out of the sky!

**Dalek: **But you have no weapons! No defenses! No plan!

**The Doctor**: Yeah! _And doesn't that scare you to death?_ Rose!

**Rose**: Yes, Doctor?

**The Doctor: **I'm coming to get you!

I got these lines from WikiQuote.

Chapter 5: The stratagem commences

"Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to Soul Society!"

A collective groan rose from the group, which woke up, and looked around. Yoruichi recovered first, and said half seriously-half tiredly, "Please don't do that again, _Denka_." Ichigo simply chuckled. Everyone else soon recovered, and Ishida asked, somewhat irritably, "What on earth was that? It was too fast to see. I couldn't even get a reading of the reiatsu used."

Ichigo said off-handedly, "It's called _Raiko no Tsubasa_, and it's a certain technique that I can use. Maybe you'll see it later in a fight. Now then, if you're all okay, we should start thinking of a way to enter Seireitei."

All the humans in the group looked at him in confusion, so Yoruichi explained the structure of Soul Society to them. Sado looked at Seireitei, and suggested, "But it is right there, isn't it? Can't we simply walk in?"

Rukia shook her head and said, "No, Seireitei has its own protections which are regularly modified by the Twelfth Division. If anybody whose reiatsu is not registered in their database tries to enter Seireitei, the first line of defence will be activated. That first line is a gate that will seal off Seireitei, and this gate is defended by powerful Guardians who are much stronger than your average Shinigami."

Inoue asked hesitantly, "If it's a gate, would it be possible to climb it?"

Rukia shook her head and said, "The gate is made of a special material called Lethality Stone. This stone completely resists spiritual pressure applied on it, and it also casts a special shield that completely covers Seireitei like a massive dome. The shield even extends underground. Under these circumstances, it's impossible to climb the walls, enter through tunnels underground, and to blast through the walls."

"Then how do we…"

"Oh don't worry. I'll think of something." Said Ichigo nonchalantly. Ishida looked at him like he was insane, while Inoue had stars in her eyes at the Prince's cool attitude. Ichigo cast his senses around, looking for any way to enter Soul Society. Then, Ishida saw a group of Shinigami in the distance, and pointed this out to his friends. Ichigo looked at the group and said, "Well, it might be worth a shot, but there's no reason for them to think we're allies…unless…"

"Unless what, Kurosaki?"

"Yoruichi…could that possibly be…?"

Meanwhile, some distance away 

There was a small group of Shinigami returning to Seireitei after finishing their patrol in the Rukongai. At their head was a man who looked to be in his early twenties, with long black hair in a ponytail, with handsome features and a small smile. He and the others wore their standard Shinigami uniforms, but the leader wore his top slightly undone to expose his chest, which was muscular, but not overly so. The men were chatting away as they walked towards the entrance to Seireitei. The leader did not talk so much, but would occasionally throw in a comment that made the men laugh.

After a short while, the short group had walked closer to Ichigo's group. One of the Shinigami gestured towards Ichigo's group and said to the leader, "Hey, Mr. Murayama, look at that group over there. They don't look like the regular Rukongai people, do they?"

The man called Murayama scratched his chin and agreed, "Yeah, you're right. Don't worry though. They probably just recently died. That would explain their clothing."

However, even as he said that, Murayama did look quite suspicious as he eyed the group. His eyes narrowed further as one of the strangers, a man with bright orange hair, wearing a suit and with a Zanpakuto at his side started walking over to him. The orange haired man had almost no reiatsu on him at all, and his eyes were slightly covered by his hair. His hair still covering his eyes, the orange-haired stranger bowed slightly to Murayama, and asked politely, "Good afternoon. My name is Kurosaki Ichigo, and I'm a local Rukongai businessman. I'm looking for a certain man here, his name is Gran Salvador. Would you know such a man?"

Murayama paled considerably upon hearing the names Kurosaki Ichigo and Gran Salvador, and stared at Ichigo, wide-eyed, no longer smiling. His men were surprised at his silence, and one of them said, "No, we don't know such a person, Mr. Kurosaki."

To their surprise, Murayama said, "You guys, I'd like you to head back to your respective divisions in the Seireitei and report back to your captains. Report our success. I'll help this man out, and then return on my own time. Got that?"

If the men were surprised, they did not show it. They replied with a crisp, "Understood, Sir!" and left the spot in flurry of flash steps.

Now that they were all alone, Murayama looked around, and then he did something unexpected. He drew his sword and placed it at Ichigo's neck. Instantly, the members of Ichigo's group looked stunned at the new development. The Shinigami had appeared willing to help them at first, but now he was taking hostile action. Inoue immediately protested, "Wait! Aren't you trying to help us?"

Murayama said politely but firmly, "Please be quiet, miss."

Then, turning to Ichigo, who was completely unfazed, Murayama asked, "Who are you? How do you know about Gran Salvador?"

Ichigo simply leaned forward and whispered something in his ear, then smiled slightly. Murayama was taken aback even more by what Ichigo had said, but it seemed to be a positive development, as he took a step back and sheathed his sword. He looked at Ichigo with wide eyes, and whispered, "Impossible…Is it really…?"

Ichigo smiled and said, "Indeed. I am Second Prince Ichigo of the Royal Family. You are Murayama Katsurou, a Knight serving the Royal Family, and a friend of mine for centuries. We fought together during the Quincy wars, trying to strike a balance between saving the world and preventing the extinction of the Quincies. We went to investigate when Barragan Luisenbarn took over as the ruler of Hueco Mundo, and decided to leave him in his place to maintain a stable balance of power. We both are close friends of some of the Shinigami Captains, like Captain Unohana. Oh, and her lieutenant is a _very_ important person to you, too. There – is that enough proof?"

Before he had even finished reciting his 'proof', Murayama Katsurou was down on one knee, with his fist touching the ground, and his head bowed. However, his eager smile was clearly visible. He cried out with joy, "It is really you, your Highness! A hundred and thirty years since your disappearance, since _that incident_, and here you are like it never happened! It is good to have you back, sir! I stayed here in Soul Society, hoping to find you somehow. It looks like my search is over now."

Ichigo laughed and said, "Damn, it's good to see you too, old friend! Now then, get up, will you? Like I've said so many times before, we're equals, there's no need for such formality. Here, meet some of my friends from the real world. Guys, this is Murayama Katsurou, he is one of the members of Zero Division, a Squad made up entirely of ex-Captains. Their duty is to defend the Spirit King. I've been on many missions with him, and we've been friends for a long time."

Katsurou smiled and stood up and pleasantly greeted Ichigo's friends. When he came to Yoruichi, he kissed her hand and said, "Good to see you again, Lady Yoruichi."

The cat woman laughed and said, "Oh, come on, Katsurou!"

He did the same with a blushing Orihime and a confused Rukia. When he turned to the two guys, he greeted them with enthusiasm as well, showing particular interest in the fact that Ishida was a Quincy. Once everyone had been introduced, Katsurou asked, "So, what happened with you over the past century, _Denka_?"

Ichigo told him his story – of how he had lived as a normal human being for 15 years, and then met Rukia in a literally life-changing experience, and regained his memories of being a Prince. Katsurou listened interestedly, then said, "Well then, I assume you came to assume your rebirth to the Commander? Shall we go there, then? I have sufficient authority to get all of you inside."

Ichigo replied, "No, I didn't come just for that, Katsurou. There's something else going on, and there will be fighting involved."

Katsurou's smile disappeared, and he said soberly, "Oh, I see. I should have suspected. One does not bring living humans into Soul Society for no reason, huh?"

"Yeah, that's right. I wanted them to stay behind and leave this to me, but they've just recently gained some abilities and they want to train their powers and get better. So they insisted that they come, and Kisuke and Yoruichi also supported their decision. So here they are. Now, Katsurou, I have some questions for you. What do you think of the current Fifth Squad Captain Aizen Sosuke?"

"Sosuke? Oh, he's a very nice man. He's kind to his squad members, looks out for them. He's sociable, and I don't think anyone hates him in the whole of the Gotei-13. Well, at least that's what anyone in the Gotei-13 will tell you."

Rukia looked surprised upon hearing his last sentence, and asked, "Do you mean your opinions are different?"

"That's right, Miss. It may seem like a dream come true – a man with great power, but he is humble, dedicated to his work, looks after his subordinates carefully, but I've always been some what suspicious of him. I remember I once walked in on him in a large room with all the lieutenants assembled. He was actually using his Shikai at that point. He reassured me that it was simply a session in which he was explaining the releases of a Zanpakuto, but it felt odd to me. A person generally becomes lieutenant of a squad only after they achieve Shikai. Demonstrating Shikai to a group of lieutenants is almost like sending a University student back to High School. Ever since that incident, I always thought there was something just…_wrong_ about him."

Ichigo asked, "Wait, does that mean you actually saw his Shikai? What does it do?"

"I didn't actually see it. When I walked in, there was nothing special happening. Later when I asked one of the lieutenants gathered there, I was told that his sword is a water-type, which uses a thick mist of tiny water droplets to confuse the enemy and cause in-fighting amongst their ranks. I saw nothing of the kind in the room, though. His sword hadn't undergone any change, and the room was clear. But the lieutenant I asked claimed that there had been a mist in the room when I entered."

Yoruichi muttered, "That's really fishy. What do you think of Tosen Kaname and Ichimaru Gin? We need to know everything we can about them."

"Why's that though? Has something raised your suspicions?"

Ichigo said gravely, "That's right. Do you remember an incident a long time ago involving Hirako Shinji, Muguruma Kensei and two more captains and four lieutenants becoming Hollow-hybrids? You might also remember that Yoruichi, Tessai and Kisuke were involved as well. From what Kisuke tells me, Aizen, Tosen and Ichimaru were the true culprits. They somehow managed to give some false evidence to Central 46 saying that Kisuke was the one who had hollowfied them forcefully."

Katsurou looked shocked at this, and said, "Tosen…Who would have thought? That man was so upright. There were few in Seireitei like him, a man with unshakable principles, and a strong sense of Justice."

Ichigo looked sympathetic for a while and said softly, "Shinigami have been standing on top of the worlds for centuries, particularly the Captains. I wouldn't be surprised to see Shinigami who have completely discarded their humility, and have come to view themselves as Gods. They have thrown away the notion that they are small compared to the dimensions as a whole, that they can be wrong, and that the world is not always what you think it is. Tosen was probably misguided from the beginning. Either way, he is opposed to Soul Society and to the Spirit King – the keeper of the balance of the worlds itself. We have to stop him."

At this, Katsurou stopped frowning and said resolutely, "Yes, your highness. Please follow me, everyone. I can get us inside Seireitei. Once there, we can meet with the Commander and explain the situation to him. Once he is aware, we should be in a much better position to deal with the threat."

Everyone agreed to this, and started walking towards the Seireitei. Once they were inside the massive city, they were confronted right away by one of their enemies – a grinning, silver haired man in a white Captain's cloak with extremely narrow eyes.

Ichigo looked at him, taken aback, and then said, "Well…this is unexpected…"

Inoue, Sado, Ishida and Rukia had already preparing for a fight, while Yoruichi, Katsurou and Ichigo stayed put, looking warily, but not belligerently at Ichimaru. The silver-haired captain drawled, "Well, what do we have here? A group of juvenile delinquents. I'm afraid I'm going to have to arrest Kuchiki Rukia for her misconduct in the Real World. And the rest of you too, for aiding and abetting - Unless you hand her over now. Then, maybe I'll let all of you off the hook."

Ichigo answered, "We refuse. We know your secret, Ichimaru, and we know who you really work for. We know everything about you already."

Ichimaru's smile slipped. Then, suddenly, a loud ringing noise filled the air. Everyone in Ichigo's group doubled over in pain, clutching their ears. While they were in that state, a dark-skinned man with white goggles and dark purple dreadlocked hair appeared before them, holding out his sword. This man also wore a Captain's cloak, on top of which he wore an orange scarf. Ichigo noticed his hand shaking slightly and thought, "His hand…is shaking? No, it's not his hand, it's his sword itself! It must be causing some vibrations. Maybe this sound is coming from him…"

The newcomer turned to Gin and said, "We have a job to do, Ichimaru. Take Kuchiki and run. The rest of these stragglers can be taken care of by my squad members. They will be here in seconds."

Ichimaru looked at him carefully, then said, "Well, I guess it can't be helped, Captain Tosen. I'll send her to the prison."

He picked up Rukia and jumped away. Ichigo, freed from the effects of Tosen's Shikai jumped up. Rukia was barely conscious. Ichigo immediately shouted, "Hang in there, Rukia! We'll come to get you! I won't let you die, got that?"

Rukia forced her eyes open and replied, "U-understood!"

Ichigo now turned to Katsurou and said, "Squad members are coming this way, aren't they? Any suggestions?"

"Well, you said that your friends came because they wanted to train their abilities, right? Maybe we can split up and take on the squad members. You can use kido to determine the enemy's locations, and to communicate with us and give us instructions. Finally, we can meet up at some place. By now, we are probably guilty of some false charges, just like Rukia, so the entire Gotei-13 will probably be searching for us."

"Alright. Good plan."

Ichigo jumped up onto the top of a building, and started casting binding spells.

At the Prison 

Abarai Renji walked through the halls of the prison, and soon reached the cell he was looking for. Inside was Kuchiki Rukia. He looked inside with anticipation. Rukia looked up and said quietly, "It's been a while, Renji."

"Yeah, too long, Rukia."

They remained silent for a short while, and then Renji spoke, "The reports said that you had been accompanied by several humans. Have you become so attached to the humans that you went so far as to bring them here, Rukia?"

"We have our own reasons as to why they are here. I have done nothing wrong, and I will not be punished."

"Like hell you'll just get off the hook like that! Right now, the Captain is speaking to Central 46. I'm sure he's fighting to get you released right now, but that doesn't mean you'll just be let off!"

"I stayed on in the real world because of a certain man who has enough authority to make me stay there. I know the real threat to Soul Society, and believe me, I'm minor compared to that threat."

"What threat?"

"You wouldn't believe me even if I told you, Renji."

Renji stared at her furiously, and after a few seconds, in an obvious attempt to make a worthless jibe at Rukia, he said, "Did you fall in love with that guy or something?"

Rukia glared coldly at him, then looked away and said off-handedly, "Think of it any way you like, _Vice Captain_."

"I think I will, Shinigami Kuchiki Rukia!"

With that, Renji angrily left the place. _That human…!_ This thought ran through his head as he left. Once he was out of the prison block, a young squad member ran up to him and said respectfully, "Vice Captain Abarai, I have an urgent report for you! Moments earlier, members of the Ninth Division went up against the Intruders associated with Kuchiki Rukia. A group of twenty Shinigami went, but they have all been defeated."

Renji snapped, "What? Those intruders defeated twenty Shinigami so fast?"

"Yes sir. The twenty had split up into smaller teams, and tried to surprise them, but all their efforts at ambushing the enemy failed. There were no fatalities, but the Fourth Division reports that the wounded men had a variety of wounds. Some looked like they had been slashed, some looked like they had been hit hard by blunt objects or fists, others had wounds inflicted by pure blasts of reiatsu, like a kido spell, and others even looked like they had been shot with thin projectiles."

The Vice Captain mulled this over and said, "There's probably a Shinigami in that place. That one can use kido to observe the surrounding area and relay commands to the others. It's the only way I can think of in which a small force can take on a larger force, and even confound our attempts to ambush them. Alright, have everyone pull out of the area now. I'll go deal with this problem myself."

The officer looked surprised, and he said, "Are you sure, sir? These guys seem powerful, I can get reinforcements if you need -"

"Don't need any! I can take down that human myself! Now order everyone to pull back from the area. We can't have anyone here getting injured in someone else's fight."

"But sir-"

"You have your orders, now get to it!"

"Y-yes sir!"

Back with Ichigo 

Ichigo and the others had rejoined, and were proceeding deeper within Soul Society. Yoruichi had briefed them on the way saying, "Kisuke said that Aizen can get the Hogyoku from within a Shinigami's soul by burning away the exterior with a great heat source. The only thing I can think of with that description is the Sokyoku. Since we are operating under the assumption that Aizen believes that the Hogyoku is within Rukia's soul, we have to assume that he, acting as Central 46, has issued the command to execute Rukia using Sokyoku. Under those circumstances, a prisoner would usually be brought to the Cell of Repentance. If we can make it there, we can rescue Rukia, and also get in contact with most of the Captains."

Ichigo added, "Yoruichi and Katsurou, when you see Tosen, he might try to use his Shikai again. If he tries to do so, use Hado number 27*. That should counteract his Shikai's ability."

Katsurou laughed, "Ah yes, that useful spell. All it's supposed to do is cause some vibrations, and you found so many uses for it."

"Yeah, it's good to maximise the utility of such spells."

They continued walking, and they soon reached the stairs which would lead to the centre of the Seireitei itself – the place where the captains met to make major decisions to run the Soul Society. However, before they could start climbing, a strong spiritual pressure came their way. Sado, Inoue and Ishida were immediately shocked by the intensity of the reiatsu, but Ichigo, Katsurou and Yoruichi were unfazed. The source of the pressure was a Shinigami with bright red hair pulled back in a spiky ponytail.

Ichigo calmly returned the stare Renji was giving him, and nodded when Katsurou told him of Renji's identity. The red-headed lieutenant said in a tough-sounding voice, "It's you, isn't it? Rukia's in prison because of you, right?"

Ichigo said without flinching, "That is right."

Renji gasped at the cold voice in which that statement had been made, then quickly regained his nerve and shouted, "Who the hell are you, anyway? Why did you make her stay on earth? She's going to get killed now because of you! What are you, her lover?"

Ichigo's eyebrow twitched, and realising that it would tick off the hot-headed lieutenant, he replied off-handedly, "Think of it any way you like, lieutenant."

Renji's face turned deep red with fury, recalling how Rukia had coldly given him that exact same answer when he had asked her that question. He said, with barely-controlled anger, "All of you can be useful witnesses. If I can defeat you, I might be able to use you to get Central 46 to lighten Rukia's sentence. Prepare yourselves!"

Immediately, he drew his sword and charged. Katsurou drew his own blade and prepared to defend the prince, but Ichigo beat him to it. Renji's blade clashed with Ichigo's.

The orange-haired Prince muttered, "Everyone, stay back. You too, Katsurou. I'll deal with this guy."

Hesitantly, Katsurou withdrew. He quickly stood at the front of everyone so as to protect them from the violent reiatsu he knew would hit them soon. He also needed to be at the front to go to Ichigo's help if necessary.

Ichigo pushed Renji backwards with his blade, and said coldly, "Abarai Renji. Rukia is in prison because of me, but she also overstayed her mission in the real world thanks to me. I was trying to protect her from danger that way."

"What danger? There is no danger!"

"There is danger within Seireitei itself, Abarai Renji. You just can't see it. But it's there."

"I don't know what you're talking about! Howl, Zabimaru!"

Renji's sword extended and became a segmented weapon with multiple pick-like protrusions. Ichigo barely raised an eyebrow at the blade which swung outwards stretched by a thin, wide elastic cord. He quickly blocked it and sent the blade flying outwards."

Renji gasped at his strength, but quickly recovered, and tried several more times to strike Ichigo. All his attempts ended with failure. Ichigo raised his blade, pointed to the side, and said emotionlessly, "_Raiko no Tsubasa_."

Renji gasped as a bright blue light engulfed Ichigo. When it had dissipated, Ichigo's sword had gone into its Shikai form – it had become a giant black cleaver with a silver cutting edge. Even more noticeably, there were two great sharp, angular wings on Ichigo's back. The wings were made up of several components, each of which was triangular or trapezium-shaped, and were sharp-angled. Renji's eyes widened as he took in Ichigo's new form.

Then, without warning, Ichigo disappeared. Renji thought, "Impossible! That was much faster than an average flash-step! It's like he was in two places at once!"

Ichigo was now standing in the sky several metres above Renji. He raised his massive blade, and the cloth on its hilt wrapped itself loosely around his arm. Then, unexpectedly, he threw his blade at Renji. With a yell of shock, Renji dodged. When he did that, Ichigo moved his arm back slightly, and the blade which was now flying past Renji suddenly came back. Renji flash-stepped away and ended up several metres away. Without giving Ichigo an opportunity to strike back, Renji extended his Shikai straight at Ichigo. Inoue, Sado and Ishida gasped. Ichigo was now standing in the air, with his blade many metres away, and his enemy's blade was coming straight at him.

Just when it looked like Renji's blade would pierce Ichigo, it sliced through empty air. Renji looked at the spot where Ichigo had been standing, unable to believe what had just happened. Then, he cried out in pain as a hand rammed into his neck, knocking him out cold. Ichigo, within a second, had moved down to dodge his blade and knock him out as well.

Katsurou walked forward, whistling as he did, and said, "You could have ended that fight without releasing your sword or using _Raiko no Tsubasa_."

"Yeah, I could have, but I wanted to see if I was still capable of fighting vice-captain-level Shinigami. This guy is out cold, he'll probably recover soon. Now then, we'll make our way to the centre of Seireitei.

"Yeah!"

_To be continued_

Once again, _Denka_ = your highness. It can be used in conjunction with a person's name, like Ichigo_ Denka_. So what did you all think of Katsurou? Please do review or PM either me or Ghost Writer Orange-kun if you have any queries. That goes for you too, Orange-kun! Please do let me know how well I've done in this chapter, especially with regards to Katsurou.

You might be wondering whether Katsurou is a lieutenant or captain or something. What is he, really? The answer will soon be revealed formally, but there are a number of clues within this chapter with which you can form some conclusions.

The way in which Ichigo fought with Renji will be his style of fighting in this story. He will move about very little and let the enemy come to him instead. He can control his Shikai's movements very well using the cloth attached to the end, and, in this way, he can fight without even holding onto his blade. _Raiko no Tsubasa_ literally does give him wings that allow him to move at blinding speeds, even greater than Shunpo itself. I actually have an explanation for this, but it's going to be boring, so I won't put it here. If you willing to suffer the full explanation, just ask :)

*In canon, the Hado number 27 has not been revealed. The Hado number 27 used in this story is one I made up on my own, and like Katsurou said, it causes vibrations. What are its applications though? You'll find out in one of the next few chapters.

Now, something I have to say about Bleach that bothers me. "_All men can see these _Tactics_ whereby I conquer, but what none can see is the _Strategy_ out of which victory is evolved_"_. _This is a quote from Sun Tzu, the great Chinese military strategist and author of _The Art of War_, a greatly influential book on strategy, which is still used today by military commanders and even by business strategists. The quote basically tells us that while Tactics are necessary, Strategy is what's truly important. Tactical objectives can be sacrificed for strategic gains.

So is this related to Bleach at all? Of course it is! How is it possible that Aizen's strategy, carefully executed over more than a hundred years, gets beaten by Ichigo, who seems to have no visible strategy, but only relies on tactics (like trying to read his enemy's pattern of movements and planning his moves in advance.)? Well, I suppose it's got something to do with Shonen manga in general, where Sun Tzu's iron rules keep getting broken by over-powered guys without strategy (Well, that only happens in the anime which I've watched so far. Bleach and One Piece are the only Shonen anime/manga I've regularly followed). If I'm wrong, please point it out, because I haven't seen any really good definitions and examples of strategy and tactics. Anyway, these are simply my thoughts about Bleach and its relationship with strategy and tactics.

**A long Author's Note worth reading **

Now then! Time for me to talk to all of you as a fellow regular viewer of Bleach! It's been a long time since I've updated, and I have much to talk about. There're some spoilers, but these will only come at the end, and I'll give you a heads-up at that point.

First of all: The ironies of Voice Actors common to Bleach and Code Geass (**I recommend everyone to read this, even if you do not watch Code Geass**)

First of all: Jun Fukuyama – He provided the voice of Lelouch vi Britannia in Code Geass, and I consider Lelouch's voice to be the best anime voice I've ever heard – It's a very powerful voice, simply radiates with power and authority, and yet, he can speak so gently to the people he cares about, particularly his younger sister. **However, in Bleach**, he voices…Ayasegawa Yumichika and Kojima Mizuiro. Ironic isn't it? Great leader, devilishly clever strategist and tactician, cruel tyrant and loving brother in Code Geass, and an effeminate man and a teenage womanizer interested in older women in Bleach. (I have nothing against Mizuiro and Yumichika…it's just…the contrast between Lelouch and Yumichika and Mizuiro is so big :| )

Alright, next: Sugiyama Noriaki – In Bleach, he voices Ishida Uryu. In Code Geass, he voices…Rivalz Cardemonde. Rivalz is like a much milder version of Keigo Asano, in that he's Lelouch's best friend in school, but of a lower level compared to Lelouch. But Rivalz is a nice guy though – he cares for his friends and is not a pervert like Keigo, but the two are similar in some respects. Ahh I can't explain this very well, but I'm sure the Code Geass lovers know what I'm talking about…

And finally, the best comparison **All Rukia/Orihime lovers please read this**: Fumiko Orikasa – In Bleach, she voices Kuchiki Rukia. In Code Geass, she voices Shirley Fenette. The Code Geass watchers are probably already starting to snicker at this. To those who don't watch Code Geass, let me explain the irony – Among the Bleach characters, Shirley is most similar to…Inoue Orihime. Isn't that amazing?

So there, I hope that gave you quite a laugh. The third comparison sure made me laugh out loud.

A new story? 

I'm thinking of writing a new story! Just thought I'd share the idea with you first, to get a reaction about it (So, please review or give me a personal message regarding your views of this!). Ichigo was recently revealed to have become a being of another dimension altogether. Everyone else was simply two-dimensional, but Ichigo was a three-dimensional being for a short time.

**So, my story idea** is that Ichigo stays on as a three-dimensional being. In this form, he is able to see a whole new world. There are many elements and objects in the real world, Soul Society and Hueco Mundo that are unseen to the eyes of humans and Shinigami, because they are also objects of the third dimension. Ichigo now can see these, and so is able to access worlds and realms, and interact with people that nobody else can even feel. **The best part is** that he is able to form portals to other worlds, even other _times_. Effectively, he becomes a Time Traveller. To those who think this is absurd and outrageous, I even have an explanation that I know is probably wrong and goes against the laws of Physics (Indeed, it goes against the laws of reality itself! Even if this reality is manufactured by Bleach), but sounds impressive anyway, even if I do say so myself.

Now, this story is **not** about Ichigo travelling back in time to set right a wrong or two, like majority of the time-travel stories out there are about. Instead, this story is about **leisure time travel** and about adventure. In other words, going to new places altogether, meeting new people, having adventures with them, maybe even getting a girlfriend from outer space xD (Not very likely though). Oh the possibilities! So, what do you think? Should I do it? Well, of course I can, it's just that if people are not willing to read it, then it would be better for me to spend the majority of my writing time on my existing stories **(Of course, I am not going to abandon my currently-ongoing stories just for this new one) **rather than start a new story. That's why I am asking you. Speaking of my currently-ongoing stories, many of you are probably wondering what on earth happened to them anyway. Go to my profile and read the lowest entry there, the one with the date 6th October. It contains some information on their statuses, for everyone following my other stories _The Organisation_, _The Gates of Death_, _Agent Destinación Oscura_ and _The Vampire's Assistant_.

Next, there is some information pertaining to the story, with mild spoilers. The reason why I'm putting this here is that people who read the manga might get the idea that I'll change some major elements in this story based on certain developments in the manga recently. For those who don't read the manga, all you need to know is that your perception of Soul Society and the Spirit King does not have to change when you read this story. To those who do read the manga, this is simply some food for thought. The spoilers are in the next paragraph.

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Scroll down for spoilers

**Spoiler: **This bit here is about the Spirit King. I just have one thing to say: Going by the latest chapters, maybe we all have to change the perception that the King is actually a human or Shinigami. He might just be some sort of living thing that is more like a computer than anything. I say this based on the fact that Aizen called the King 'That thing' in one of the last chapters, the one in which he got sealed off by Urahara. Urahara then responded by saying that the King was vital for the balance of the worlds. There may be no Royal Family or anything. He's a figurehead in Soul Society, probably because he doesn't have the ability to be a visible ruler. He (it?) is probably tied down by other, more important duties.

Now, based on this, you might think that this story will change drastically. However, that is not going to happen. For this story, I will be operating under the assumption that there is a Royal Family. About the Spirit King, I am undecided about him for now. He might, or might not, appear in later chapters.

Alright then, that's all I have to say for this chapter. I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it. Please remember to review or PM me about the Time Travel Story, as I would really like to hear your opinions (As an extra incentive, this affects you readers as well! You could get a new story to read!) on this. Anonymous reviews are enabled, so go wild, people! Until next time, this is TsukiakariNoMichi signing out!


	6. The Challenge

The Dark Prince

Look at my display picture…lovely isn't it? Many anime pairings (Of what I've seen, none so far are actually, technically, canon, they're just created by fans) in Shonen anime made me roll my eyes but Rose and the Doctor's relationship damn near made me cry…especially 'burning up a star' T.T

Anyway, that's enough of my somewhat inappropriate rambling and back to Bleach. **I finally discovered** why the last 20 or so manga chapters were called "Deicide"…I thought it was a really cool way to misspell "Decide", but "Deicide" with the "i" in between E and C actually refers to **the act of killing a God**. And now I feel stupid for thinking Kubo went and misspelled it just to make it seem slightly cooler :(

To HitsugayaToshirou1220, what did you mean by "Rosen" in your PM? And before that PM, I never thought Ichigo looked like a Ninja when he went Getsuga. Probably because I don't watch/read Naruto XD

On a separate note, a great thank you to all the awesome people who read, subscribed to and reviewed my newest story, _Kurosaki Ichigo, Master of Time and Space_. That story will be updated soon. Now, I give you chapter 6 of _The Dark Prince_. As usual, enjoy!

Chapter 6: The Challenge

After defeating Renji, Ichigo and the others headed over to the place where the centre of Seireitei lay. This was where the major decisions were made, and there, they had a greater chance of meeting the captains. As the group of six climbed up the long flight of stairs that led to the centre, a hell butterfly flew down and made its way to Katsurou, who had not been identified as an enemy by the Seireitei at that point. Katsurou heard the message and said to Ichigo, "Hear this, it's shocking! Aizen's apparently dead! He was found pinned to a wall with his own sword through his chest! Also, Miss Kuchiki's execution has already been scheduled; they plan to use Sokyoku, even though her crime hasn't even been confirmed yet. What's Central 46 thinking, giving such an order?"

"He's dead? Who on earth could have killed him?"

Yoruichi then spoke up, "Wait! Maybe he's not dead! I remember Kisuke once saying something about his sword being an illusion-type. Maybe the corpse itself is an illusion?"

Ishida contributed, "Maybe he faked his own death in order to draw attention away so that he has more room to make secret preparations? Besides, we are his enemy, and he has what he wants, which is Rukia. Now, he just has to get rid of us, by making the soul society believe we killed him. Now they'll really want to find us and execute us."

"So what do we do now?"

Ichigo thought hard about it, and then said, "Katsurou, earlier, you said that Central 46 was acting strangely. Do you think it might be possible that they're being controlled?"

Yoruichi protested, "Central 46 – controlled?"

"Think about it! Even Central 46 would not be so cruel as to end Rukia's life through Sokyoku! It's true she is a criminal by Soul Society law, but there is no solid connection between her and Aizen's murder. And besides, Aizen's Zanpakuto is an illusion type – I get it now! Earlier, when Katsurou spoke of the time when he used his shikai in front of the lieutenants…there was no need to demonstrate Shikai to the Lieutenants as they already knew all about it. What if, that time, he was actually putting them under the hypnosis? Who's to say he didn't use it on Central 46? Who's to say he didn't use it on every Shinigami powerful enough to oppose him?"

Katsurou grinned enthusiastically and continued, "And as if putting the entire Seireitei under hypnosis wasn't enough, he's now controlling them through Central 46 – to end Miss Kuchiki's life and to obtain the Hogyoku within her soul!"

Ichigo turned serious and replied, "Except there is no Hogyoku in her soul. That is our stratagem, and in order for it to truly succeed, Rukia must not die. We must prevent Sokyoku from consuming Rukia's soul, and we must alert Soul Society to Aizen's treachery."

"In that case, let's split up. Ishida, Inoue and Sado, I will go north with the three of you, and follow Rukia's spiritual pressure. If we find her, we'll try to break her out."

Katsurou agreed, "Alright then. His highness and I shall make our way to the Fourth Division. Captain Unohana is one of the few people we can trust right now."

Ichigo agreed to this, and the team split up. Ichigo and Katsurou flash-stepped off and while they flew to the Fourth Division headquarters, Ichigo said conversationally, "So what've you been up to these hundred years, Katsurou?"

"Well, after you died, I stayed in Soul Society, as an officer not actually part of any squad. There were those who protested this, especially since I did not want my status as a Royal Knight to get known. But the commander knew of my status and so let me stay, using his authority. But there are some people who would be happy to be rid of such an 'irregular' man like me, like Kuchiki Byakuya and Soifon. Those two practically worship the law book, and think I'm some lazy person who doesn't even want to join a squad. They don't even know about my past as a true member of the Gotei-13."

"I see. But you had no major trouble though?"

"Not at all, your highness. Just that those two were really cold to me – well colder than they are to everyone else. Right now, I bet Byakuya is fully in support of Rukia's execution. He is her adoptive brother, but he's the type who puts the law before even his family. And Soifon…It will be interesting to see her meet Yoruichi. A long time ago, she was a woman who was very loyal to Yoruichi, but now, I think she hates her, probably because Yoruichi left her behind when she escaped Soul Society all those years ago. I generally stayed away from the captains, except for those who knew of who I really was – Captains Yamamoto, Unohana, Kyouraku and Ukitake. In fact, I'm dating Captain Unohana's lieutenant, y'know." The last sentence was said with a blush.

Ichigo turned to look at him in surprise, and then laughed, "Well that's great! What's she like?"

"Oh she's sweet. Doesn't mind my 'irregularity' and accepts me for it. Captain Unohana suddenly became scary when we started going out, but she accepts it now."

Ichigo looked at him, confused, and said, "Y'know, back when I was alive, people used to tell me how scared they were of Retsu. What's so scary about her? I mean, she is really powerful, but she'd never raise a fist in anger."

Katsurou simply shook his head. Moments later, they landed near the Fourth Division's headquarters. The two men walked inside the Headquarters and to the Captain's office. Ichigo knocked on the door, and Katsurou said, "Captain Unohana, this is Katsurou. I have someone important for you to meet."

The captain inside called, "Come in, then."

Ichigo stepped inside to find his old friend sitting at her table sipping some tea. When she saw him, her hand which had been about to bring the cup up to her lips stopped short. She placed the cup back on the table and stood up with a shocked expression on her face.

"It can't be!"

Ichigo smiled and said, "Good to see you again, Retsu. I was reborn 16 years ago, and recently regained my memories of being a member of the royal family."

The captain smiled and said, "In that case, welcome back, your Highness. It is good to see you again. Have you notified the other captains?"

"No, I haven't. Unfortunately, there is an emergency, and I must help to solve it."

With a serious expression, Ichigo told her everything he and Katsurou knew about Aizen and his treacherous deeds. Unohana's face fell as she listened, then she stood up resolutely and said, "Captain Aizen has betrayed us. No, it would be more appropriate to say that he was never on our side to begin with. I can hardly believe this, but since I have heard it directly from you, your highness, I can be sure that it is the truth."

Katsurou chimed in, "Yeah, same here. I wouldn't have believed anyone else about this. So, what can we do now?"

The captain said, "Aizen's body is in the autopsy room. We can go there and check him!"

The three powerful Reapers hurried towards the autopsy room and opened it. Unohana hurried over to a bed and said, "Here's the body. I'll start looking for any possible signs of life. Who knows, there are ways of keeping a body alive while making it seem dead. Thorough checks will reveal-"

Before she could finish her sentence, a confused Ichigo cut in, "Wait, Retsu, there is no body on this bed!"

Unohana looked at the bed in confusion. Clearly, there was a body, as her eyes told her, but how come the prince could not see the body? Katsurou then seemed to realise the answer, and he said, "The illusion! Aizen has the power to make Retsu see illusions but he has no such influence on his Highness or me! This body itself is fake, it's an illusion, fooling our five senses into believing that it's Aizen's corpse!"

Unohana paled considerably and whispered, "But how on earth…"

Ichigo said darkly, "His Zanpakuto! It has the ability to put people under its hypnosis, and if our earlier hypothesis is correct, he is using this power to control anyone with a remote chance of fighting him on an even level. From Katsurou's account, he used his Shikai in front of the lieutenants – we think that is the way in which he puts their senses under his control. I think all the captains have seen his sword release as well, which means he can easily win a fight with an unprepared person. Even a prepared person would probably be unable to win, unless Aizen makes a fatal mistake."

"And he is not the type to make any mistake, according to what you have told us. Now, your Highness, I have a plan. In order for your stratagem to succeed, Kuchiki Rukia must survive, and Aizen must reveal himself to the Soul Society, which he will do after retrieving the Hogyoku. That is not possible because the real Hogyoku has been moved to a different location within the Real World and there is no Hogyoku within the soul of Kuchiki Rukia."

Katsurou continued, "We could tell the Commander – he would believe us, and he can make the other captains understand as well, especially if Captains Ukitake and Kyouraku are also informed at the same time. However, we decided that this will lead to unnecessary bloodshed. The Gotei-13 is still not ready to face Aizen, and even if we win, it will be at a great cost. I wouldn't be surprised if three of our captains die if we were to fight Aizen and his henchmen as we are now. By enticing him to reveal himself to Seireitei, we'll instead force him to retreat. We strongly believe that he'll go to Hueco Mundo."

Unohana looked shocked at this suggestion, and Ichigo said, with a somewhat rueful tone, "Hueco Mundo – the one place no Shinigami ever would imagine Aizen would go. We detest Hollows so much that we have trouble believing that one of our own would willingly go over to their side and lead them in a war against us. It is the most likely place where Aizen will go, according to Urahara Kisuke. So, what do you have in mind?"

Unohana continued, "We should go and secretly tell the Commander as well as Captains Kyouraku and Ukitake. We can then stop the execution by Sokyoku, forcing Aizen to come out to personally capture Kuchiki Rukia and use another method to get the Hogyoku."

Ichigo continued forcefully, "And we make sure to get to her and stop and expose Aizen before anything serious happens to her. She's supposed to be a mere bystander and I won't stand for any harm to happen to her. The same goes for the humans who accompanied me to Soul Society. They shouldn't even be here, but they wanted to tag along."

"I see. Your Highness, Mr. Murayama, please make your way to Sokyoku Hill. I will notify the Commander, and then make my way to Central 46. The captains will be gathered there, but as soon as the commander is informed, they will make themselves scarce, so that Aizen will think it's safe to return to Sokyoku, which, as the highest level ground in Seireitei, should be the best place from which to escape from Seireitei to Hueco Mundo. When the signal is given, everybody will gather back at Seireitei, cutting Aizen's stay short and forcing his escape."

"Alright! Sounds like a plan."

Then, a hell butterfly floated into the room and rested on Unohana's finger. She listened to the message, then said in shock, "The message says that the execution will start…in fifteen minutes!"

Ichigo cursed, and then thought fast. Within a minute, he said, "Alright, change of plans then! Retsu, go straight to Central 46. Aizen should be there, you can force him to reveal himself there. On the way, contact Yoruichi using kido, and tell her that you've met me. Tell her to go to Sokyoku. We need to disperse all the captains there and then inform them of Aizen's treachery so that they can return to Sokyoku to corner him."

"Understood, your Highness!"

As Unohana hurried off to reach Central 46 to force Aizen out of the area, she felt Captain Hitsugaya's reiatsu far ahead of her, also heading towards Central 46 along with his Vice Captain Matsumoto. The young captain was a genius, and Unohana realised that he had probably found out that something was wrong with Central 46 and had decided to investigate. Immediately she knew that he would only get hurt after entering Central 46, as he had no idea of what lay there.

Furthermore, he was eager to kill Ichimaru, especially after what happened a few days ago when he had fought briefly with the Third Division Captain shortly after Vice Captain Hinamori had been imprisoned for doing the exact same thing – attacking Ichimaru. If it weren't for the timely arrival of Vice Captain Matsumoto, Hinamori would have died that day. And subsequently, Captain Hitsugaya's rage would have made him personally murder Ichimaru for causing the death of Hinamori. And for that, he would be brought before Central 46, perhaps even executed. Vice Captain Matsumoto unknowingly saved three lives that night by blocking Ichimaru's sword.

Putting the thoughts of past events out of her mind, Unohana hurried over to Central 46 with Isane by her side. Meanwhile, Ichigo and Katsurou had finalized their plans with her and both had hurried off to Sokyoku hill to stop the execution. The three of them had already informed Captains Yamamoto, Ukitake and Kyouraku. They had been, understandably, hard to convince, but Ichigo successfully convinced them in the same way that he convinced Katsurou outside Seireitei.

He had talked to them through Kido, saying, "I need all the captains to leave Sokyoku hill for a while. Many of them are tied up with various responsibilities elsewhere, and I know that few of the captains will bother to show up at the execution anyway."

Yamamoto had replied in a much more respectful tone, "Yes, your Highness. Of the few who are there, I will get them to leave along with Jushiro and Shunsui. I understand that Kuchiki Byakuya and Soifon will be taken care of by the people on your side?"

"Yes. Perhaps now's not the time to be thinking of such matters, but this is for closure – Soifon needs to see Yoruichi, so I have asked her to personally remove Soifon from Sokyoku Hill. As for Kuchiki Byakuya...he seems like the type who would make sure the execution happens no matter what. I'll deal with him on Sokyoku itself. Make sure my true identity is kept a secret. I don't want anyone to know about it other than those who already know. That's about all, Good Luck, Yamamoto."

"Thank you, your Highness. Good luck to you too."

Yamamoto carried out his orders well. The execution was called off by Yamamoto at the very last moment as he had decided that it was a waste of time. Yamamoto had decided to go and have some tea, and Jushiro and Shunsui had followed him. Soifon was disapproving, as usual, but she did not dare disagree with the Commander. Furthermore, she was unable to, as before she could possibly raise her objections, she had been taken away from the battlefield by an unknown assassin with mind-numbing speed. That assassin had then removed her mask...to reveal the face of her long-lost mentor, whose face she had not seen in a hundred years…

At that point, nobody was left on Sokyoku Hill except for Byakuya and Rukia, who was quite stunned and standing on the ground. Byakuya looked around and then said coldly, "To think even the Commander would have abandoned an execution of the law. Either way, it matters not. I will, as promised, carry out the law – with my own hands if need be!"

Rukia squeezed her eyes shut, waiting for the slash that would end her life. However, it never came. She then heard a voice say, "Are you sure you want to do that, Kuchiki Byakuya? She is your sister, after all."

Byakuya turned around sharply, with his sword drawn. In front of them was a man in a black frock coat and with bright orange hair. He was masking his reiatsu, had a sword by his side, and had an icy expression on his face that could easily rival that of Hitsugaya Toshiro. Byakuya asked him expressionlessly, "Who are you?"

"I am Kurosaki Ichigo, the Shinigami who found Rukia in the Living World and fought alongside her there. When I heard Rukia was to be executed, I came to present evidence that she was innocent of her crimes – and if need be, use force to prevent her execution."

"Clearly, you have no understanding of the way the rules work here. A criminal is a criminal, and must be punished as the law dictates. I do not know how the humans do it, but your law systems are irrelevant before the millennia-old laws of our Soul Society."

"Irrelevant? I do believe the older, unchanging system of Seireitei is irrelevant. Humans are dynamic, ever-changing, and their systems and paradigms generally change in order to suit everyone, to take care of everyone who needs to be taken care of. But in Soul Society, all we have is stagnation. There are no second chances given here, and the law is absolute, and completely cruel."

Byakuya's eyes flashed and he said sharply, "Who do you think you are, stranger? Simply barging into Soul Society with a group of humans and former exiles? And now questioning our ancient laws?"

"That's right. I came to do that exactly. If the law can't protect the Shinigami, it should change. Justice itself should change if it is inadequate."

"I see. I am here trying to execute the law of Soul Society – Our Pride as the defenders of the worlds. And yet you dare to-"

Ichigo looked at him incredulously and said in a low voice, "_Pride_? I can understand the actions of a man who turns in others to the Law because it is his duty, and because it helps the perpetrators to learn from their mistakes and change for the better. But, to do it to uphold one's own pride…is utterly despicable."

"I do not want to hear that from a brat like you, human. What would you know about our pride?"

Blue reiatsu flared dangerously around Ichigo's body as he unsheathed his blade. The cold fury of the Prince shone through as he intoned, "That's enough out of you. I expected the Shinigami, the keepers and defenders of the worlds, to be more humane, more compassionate. And all you care about is your pride and unjust law system. With that statement of yours, you just lost the right to be a leader of men, to be the leader of a family, and to be a brother. Prepare yourself, Kuchiki Byakuya, for my blade…and for my ideals."

Wordlessly, Byakuya raised his blade, flash-stepped forward. Without moving from his position, Ichigo raised his blade and easily blocked his slash. An immense reiatsu blew from the scene and caused Rukia to cover her face quickly. Thankful that her Shinigami powers were still present, and that her bindings were undone, the petite Soul Reaper quickly stepped back to keep away from the powerful reiatsu flying about. Once in safety, she looked towards the battle with a frightened look on her face, wondering what the outcome might possibly be.

_To be continued_

**Explanations: **Sado, Inoue and Ishida experienced the same events in this story as they did in the manga. Time moves similarly, although it seems to go very fast. Ichigo, Katsurou and Unohana seem to know a lot of information they are not supposed to know, but they are actually making very intelligent guesses, and more importantly, they are thinking outside of the box. In the manga Soul Society Arc, Seireitei considered the idea of a few humans entering their walled city as absurd – and look where it got them!

In this story, Ichigo is more willing to challenge the paradigms, ideals and even the idea of Justice that the Shinigami have. This leads to a more open minded way of thinking, which benefits him, as Aizen himself is a very successful open-minded man. This is the specific manner in which Ichigo is slightly out of character in this story.

Now, I apologise for the lower quality of this chapter (in my opinion), but in my mind when I first thought up the idea of _The Dark Prince_, the more interesting parts and ideas will come about in the arrancar arcs. There will be some surprising stuff later on in the story, involving a certain instrument of doom, a King (which one?) and Hollow Politics (quite minor, actually) and other stuff I thought of. So stay tuned!


	7. Deceived

The Dark Prince

Friday the 22nd of October and the haze in Singapore is getting worse and worse...Why can't the winds send us big fat rain clouds instead of the smoke from wildfires that are burning hundreds of miles away?

**Note: **As I believe I have mentioned before in a previous chapter, Ichigo, in this story, fights in a very calm, even passive manner. He generally stays in one spot and does not move more than a few metres from that spot, instead waiting for the enemy to come to him. He only moves when he has to. He blocks all the enemy's attacks and only strikes when he sees an opening. When you think about it, in the manga, Ichigo fights aggressively instead of passively like he does in this chapter, and the only reason he is able to pull that off (continuously fighting aggressively, that is) is that he has extremely great amounts of energy. He is also very powerful in this fic,but he is much more controlled, and his fight is as psychological as it is physical. He tires out the opponent, making them frustrated and causing them to go all out sooner than they would if they were calm. If he can overcome their strongest attacks, he will win as he himself is not fighting at full strength, and his enemy is tired out. **Please do review my performance when it came to writing the fight scenes! **

**Another Note: **There will be some Japanese words used in this chapter. If you see any Japanese words, other than 'Shinigami', 'Zanpakuto' etc., the translation (and explanation) will be at the end of the chapter.

Chapter 7: Deceived

Ichigo barely blinked as Byakuya flash-stepped to him with his blade flashing. He quickly blocked the oncoming blade and pushed outwards, forcing back the captain, who promptly tried again. This time, Ichigo sidestepped, and struck out to the side with his blade. Byakuya saw the danger and prematurely cut out of his Flash step, barely avoiding being cut when he was moving at a high speed. As he unexpectedly cut out of his high-speed movement, he raised his palm towards Ichigo , as he moved past him to the side, and intoned, "_Hado #33: Sokatsui!_" and Ichigo had to quickly take a few steps forward to protect himself from the bright blue flames. Byakuya came back with his blade held high. This time, Ichigo waited until the last moment when the blade was coming down on him, then moved slightly to his right. As Byakuya's blade came down left of his body, Ichigo struck out to the left with his blade. The shiny cutting edge of Zangetsu met flesh and Byakuya's face contorted in pain as he quickly put some distance between himself and Ichigo.

Breathing heavily, Byakuya regarded Ichigo coldly. He said expressionlessly, "I applaud your quick thinking and reflexes. There are few who can come close enough to me to land a strike. But rest assured it will not happen again. With this, this fight ends. _Scatter, Senbonzakura_."

His Zanpakuto entered its Shikai state, as reiatsu flared around him. Ichigo observed carefully as his opponent's blade glowed bright pink, then disintegrated into countless small particles that strongly reminded him of Cherry Blossom petals. As the petals came towards him fast, like a powerful wave of water, Ichigo knew better than to do nothing. He quickly created a wall of reiatsu to deflect the petals away from himself, and noted that the petals were wearing down his makeshift shield bit by bit. Quickly, he flash-stepped away, thinking, "So the petals are like blades...they surround and cut an enemy. All the petals came straight towards me, so he must have been expecting me to move behind."

Knowingly, Ichigo turned around and blocked the strike that came from Byakuya's blade, and commented, "I see you can disintegrate and rebuild your blade rather fast. But what if you were to lose control of the individual blades?"

Somewhat cautiously, Byakuya once again separated his blade wordlessly, and this time, before all the petals could move away from the blade and towards Ichigo, the orange-haired reaper pointed his palm at the Captain's glowing blade and said sharply, "_Hado #58: Tenran!_"

A powerful blast of wind came from Ichigo's palm and took the form of a whirlwind. Instantly, the petal-blades were scattered around and Byakuya was left without a blade in his hand. Quickly, the Captain flash-stepped backwards, out of reach of Ichigo, and reformed his blade, using sheer power of will to stop the petals from flying about randomly and to make them come to him. Ichigo called out casually, "You know, you're going to have to do better than that if you're going to defeat me. Come on, you're a captain and you're losing while using Shikai against a man who hasn't even released his Zanpakuto?"

"Silence, child. You are speaking well out of your league. All that you've been doing is staying in one spot and blocking. Is this what you call your 'ideals'? Are you just going to just defend yourself against an adversary without attacking and changing the enemy? Are you not courageous enough to take the offensive?"

Ichigo shrugged and, in the same casual tone, said, "Well, if that's what you want. _Raiko no Tsubasa_."

Once again, Ichigo did the exact same thing he had done during his fight with Renji. A bright blue light surrounded him, and when it dissipated, he had bright blue angular wings on his back. The tips of the wings were reached up to a level that was twice Ichigo's height. Byakuya also noted that his Zanpakuto had changed into a long cleaver with a black blade and a silver cutting edge. The hilt of the sword was a part of the blade itself, and there was no guard. The hilt was covered in a white cloth that extended for a bit beyond the end of the hilt. Byakuya looked at it without emotion and asked, "So that is your Shikai. Are those wings the effect of your released sword?"

"No they're not. These wings are from my spiritual energy, and they're not caused by my Zanpakuto. This is just a personal habit of mine, activating the wings at the same time as releasing my Zanpakuto. Now then, let's begin, shall we?"

Byakuya had barely raised his blade when Ichigo 's blade connected cleanly with it. The force of the impact was extremely great, and Byakuya silently reflected, "_Had I not formed a wall of reiatsu behind me to hold me in my position, I would have been blown off the Hill! What power! Is this man truly a human? Where is all this speed coming from? Those wings – they are ejecting spirit particles rapidly at the bottom to provide a force to propel him. And at the same time, in order to keep their shape and not disintegrate as they eject their spirit particles, they are reforming themselves actively by collecting the spirit particles from the air. He must have supreme control over the spirit particles in the air in order to do such a thing!_"

As he regarded his opponent with wide eyes, Ichigo raised an eyebrow at the captain's shock, then held up a hand and intoned, "_Hado #33: Sokatsui!_"

To Byakuya's shock, there was great energy gathering at Ichigo's palm, but it _seemed to be invisible_. Then, Byakuya felt the energy being released, and yet, there was no light being emitted, no blue flames, and no sound either. A wave of terrible heat was coming straight at him and it was completely invisible to the eye. Byakuya immediately scrambled to protect himself, by holding up a hand and intoning, "_Hado #33: Sokatsui!_"

A bright blue flash of light issued from his palm and collided with Ichigo's invisible spell. The two collided in a flash of blue and when the energy dissipated, all the sand on the ground below the point where the spells had collided had turned to glass because of the sheer heat.

"What did you just do? That was clearly kido, but I have never seen such a spell being cast!"

Ichigo explained, "Kido spells are fired using our spiritual energy, as you already know. However, not all the energy you put into a spell is used to harm the opponent. Some of the energy is used to give light and sound which don't harm the opponent. What I did was to fire a spell that used all the energy in it to burn the opponent, not wasting a single bit of it to create light or sound. In fact, despite all that damage caused the spell, your spell had more spiritual energy in it. Just that it was more inefficient compared to mine."

Byakuya inwardly seethed at the ways in which this boy was beating him, and said expressionlessly, "Not only have you violated our laws and trampled on our pride, you are too dangerous an enemy to be kept alive. Prepare to die, Kurosaki Ichigo! _Bankai: Senbonzakura Kageyoshi._"

Ichigo quickly put some distance between himself and Byakuya, knowing full well the power of a bankai, and watched as Byakuya dropped his sword into the ground. A thousand tall blades rose out of the ground, 500 on each side of Byakuya. As soon as they all rose to their full height, every single blade disintegrated into cherry blossom petal-blades, saturating the sky with bright pink. Ichigo immediately realised that he could no longer fight on the spot, and started moving about to avoid the blades. His eyes narrowed as he flew around to avoid the waves of blades coming his way. As Byakuya directed his petals at him, Ichigo used his sword to slash away the waves and direct them elsewhere. However, the millions of cherry blossom blades kept coming like there was no tomorrow, and even the powerful Ichigo was forced into a tight corner by the blades. A bright ball of pink completely surrounded Ichigo and spun around him, locking him in for a few seconds.

Rukia almost shouted his name from the sidelines, but a hand suddenly was placed on her shoulder. She turned around in surprise to see Katsurou, looking seriously at the fight between Byakuya and Ichigo. "Mr Murayama" ,breathed Rukia in shock. Still observing the fight, Katsurou said quietly, "Have faith. His Highness is, by nature, a pacifist. But that doesn't mean he never fights. He is the most powerful man I have ever met, and I can tell you, that attack will never be able to defeat him." Rukia nodded slowly and continued observing along with him. The bright pink ball of petal-blades surrounding Ichigo dispersed at Byakuya's command, and revealed Ichigo who was crouching slightly, and breathing heavily. There were a few cuts on his body, but these were minor, and not life-threatening. Ichigo stood up quickly, thinking, "Alright, looks like I'm going to have to take this all a little more seriously."

As Byakuya emotionlessly looked at the damage to Ichigo's body, Ichigo wasted no time preparing his next attack. He quickly raised his hand and said, "_Hado #32: Okasen!_" A bright flash of yellow energy exploded out of his palm and went out in a wide arc towards Byakuya. As the Captain scrambled to avoid the blast, Ichigo flew after him quickly and instead of swatting away the petals, he went straight for Byakuya. Petals came forth, at Byakuya's will, and protected their master. Ichigo pointed his finger straight at Byakuya and muttered, "_Hado #4: Byakurai!_" White lightning burst out of his fingertip and went straight into the mass of cherry blossom blades. The concentrated attack succeeded in penetrating Byakuya's defences and went straight for the captain, who quickly dodged. He ended up getting simply grazed.

Without allowing him room to recover, Ichigo quickly flew close, but sufficiently far from Byakuya, and brought his sword down, shouting, "_Getsuga Tensho!_"

The bright blue crescent-shaped blade of spiritual energy crashed down on where Byakuya had been last standing, and enveloped the entire area in a radiant white light. When it disappeared,Byakuya was breathing very heavily, and was bleeding. Glaring at Ichigo, he said, "It has been many years since I have faced an adversary such as you. Like I have said, you are too dangerous to be kept alive, and I will wipe you away your existence with my own hands. Behold, the ultimate technique of Senbonzakura: _Senkei, Senbonzakura Kageyoshi_."

Within seconds, every single cherry blossom petal-blade converged at Byakuya's location, and there, they took the form of a thousand regular sized katana floating in the sky, each glowing bright pink. Ichigo looked around him, and Byakuya explained, "This is the true form of Senbonzakura. The tens of millions of tiny blades come together to form a thousand blades, each with greater cutting power. Be glad you got to see this. Few have had such an honour." 

Ichigo replied, "Well, then I suppose I'll have to return the favour now. Let me show you something not many have seen either – _Bankai. Owari ni shiyou, Tensa Zangetsu." _

Before the shocked Byakuya, Ichigo's wings disintegrated, and black reiatsu surrounded him. When it disappeared, Ichigo was wearing a black coat with ragged edges and long sleeves. His blade had shrunk drastically, and was now a black Japanese long sword with a short chain protruding from the pommel, and with a guard in the shape of a Swastika*. Byakuya composed himself quickly, then called down one of the numerous swords and charged straight at Ichigo, who quickly responded and blocked it. As each tried to overpower the other, Ichigo said, "So your cutting power has increased? Well, so will mine, then. _Hado #27: Hasshin!_" Byakuya's eyes widened at the use of the obscure spell, and was surprised to see no visible effect. Then, without warning, his blade shattered. With a gasp, Byakuya fell back and called another blade down. "What did you do?"

"That spell actually causes vibrations. A vibrating blade has greater cutting power, and so was able to shatter your blade, which is made up of tiny particles fused together, making it easier to shatter."

With a glare, Byakuya charged again, and ferociously attacked Ichigo. Ichigo calmly blocked the strikes and used his superior speed to fool Byakuya and strike where he least expected it. As he continuously attacked, Ichigo asked, "Do you see it now? Do you see how far I am willing to go to defend what I feel is right? Do you see my resolve now?"

Byakuya did not reply, and Ichigo, sensing that he had neither the strength nor the will to continue the fight, moved behind him and swiftly struck his back with the pommel of his sword. Byakuya gasped and moved forwards in pain. He dropped to one knee, with his back facing Ichigo, and at that moment, the Senkei formation disappeared. The captain muttered, "Maybe it was foolish to take you on from the very beginning. I see now your power, skill and determination to win. You win this battle, Kurosaki Ichigo."

With that, he stood up somewhat painfully, walked away and flash-stepped off. Ichigo watched him leave, then ran over to where Katsurou and Rukia were standing, and said, "Alright! Very soon, Aizen will be here, and we need to stall them for as long as possible! Retsu will send out a message to everyone about Aizen's betrayal after going to Central 46, so we'll all be prepared."

Rukia asked, "Mr Murayama explained the plan to me. What if Aizen hypnotises Captain Unohana into believing that Central 46 is fine?"

"Don't worry about that, he won't have time. He'll be focussing on reaching here as soon as possible. Hopefully everyone else will arrive in time."

Just as he said that, Aizen, Tosen and Ichimaru appeared on the hill. Seconds later, Ichigo, Rukia and Katsurou received the message from Unohana, revealing to the whole of Soul Society Aizen's treacherous deeds. Katsurou faced Aizen coldly and said, "So here you are at last, Aizen, ready to make your move. Got bored of keeping up a sickly-sweet appearance in Seireitei, I see."

Aizen smiled at him and replied in his usual mildly-interested, mature-sounding tone, "Ah, so you saw through me. Since when, if I may ask, Mr Murayama?"

Katsurou responded, somewhat bitterly, "Ever since you demonstrated your Shikai to the lieutenants. What I saw back then didn't match up with what I heard from the lieutenants later. I wanted to believe in you, Aizen. I wanted to believe what the rest of Seireitei believed. But it looks like we were all wrong. We all trusted the wrong person."

"Whatever are you talking about? I did not ask all of you to trust me. You did so of your own accord, and now you can see where it has gotten you."

Katsurou seethed, "Then what of Tosen? I heard he was one of your accomplices. I can understand you wanting to leave the Seireitei on your own. But to twist that man's ideals, and turn him into a slave to you – that's unforgivable, Aizen."

"Wrong again, Mr Murayama. Kaname's ideals are entirely his own, and even though he follows me, it is not because I told or forced him to. It is simply because he felt that following me was the best way to follow his own principles. He is a loyal man, both to me and to his values. What is there to be hated in such a man?"

Katsurou said coldly, "I see. You have twisted the lives of so many, and now you are conveniently casting the blame on others. You were a captain. A man like you has to care for your subordinates, and you simply cast them away, especially Momo. She idolised you, and in return, you used her, and finally tried to kill her when she outlived her utility. You are a twisted shadow of a Shinigami, Aizen"

With that, Katsurou growled, and flew straight at Aizen with his sword drawn, black, silver-lined reiatsu flaring around him. He got to within a few metres of where Aizen had been standing, but at that point, he gasped and turned to the side, noting a spike in spiritual energy from there. He found a very long blade coming straight at him from where Ichimaru had been standing. Quickly, he cut out of his movement and dodged the blade. Without wasting time, he got up and raised his blade defensively, as Ichimaru retracted his blade.

"_Ichimaru!_"

"Why hello there, my former captain. It's been a while, hasn't it?"

"Yes indeed, Ichimaru. Tell me now, why are you siding with Aizen?"

Ichimaru did not answer, instead, he used his Shikai again, and tried to stab Katsurou, who dodged again. This went on for a few minutes, then Katsurou powerfully pushed Gin's blade aside, then held his own sword out parallel to the ground, with one hand. He then went into Shikai himself.

"_Stand in silence, Haka!_"

Black reiatsu surrounded him, and when it cleared, his sword had changed from a cross shape to a sword with a thin, double-sided blade. Ichimaru's smile slipped as he saw the seriousness reflected in the eyes of Katsurou. Without warning, Katsurou flash-stepped forward and slashed out. Ichimaru, instead of blocking, quickly jumped back. Katsurou launched a flurry of attacks on him, but Ichimaru kept dodging. Katsurou then raised his blade high for an attack, and, seeing his chance, Ichimaru struck out at Katsurou with his blade. The black-haired man dodged it quickly and the two continued fighting and dodging for a while more. After a few seconds, Katsurou swung his sword in a wide arc, and to Ichimaru's shock, a shadowy, ghost-like figure appeared, standing a few metres away from Katsurou.

"W-What did you do?"

"My Haka allows me to control the enemies I've defeated before like a puppet. Truly, when I fight, I never fight alone, more so than any other Shinigami."

Katsurou held out a hand and flexed the fingers. The puppet, a shadow of a former enemy, promptly marched forward and started fighting the slightly perturbed Ichimaru while Katsurou controlled it. However, Ichimaru was a powerful adversary, and 'killed' the puppet, causing it to dissipate into black dust. Then, Ichimaru looked up and quickly raised his blade just in time to block a powerful strike from Katsurou, who had wasted no time in attacking him after his 'puppet' died.

As the two men fought, Aizen turned to Ichigo and spoke, "Now then, human boy, I would like you to hand over Kuchiki Rukia. There is something within her soul that I want to take for myself." Just to prove his point, Aizen flared some of his reiatsu.

"And why would I do that? I just fought off a captain in order to save her, and now you want me to hand her over to you?"

"Well, if you do it, I might consider sparing your life. What say you?"

"No."

"What? Don't tell me you have grown attached to Kuchiki Rukia from the few months she spent in the real world. She should mean next to nothing to you."

"No, she is an important person, and I am not going to hand her over to you. Besides, even if I were to hand her over to you, what's the point?"

"Let me explain this to you, human. There are boundaries separating Shinigami and Hollows. My goal is to obtain the Hogyoku, the object that will-"

"-blur those boundaries? I think not, Aizen. The Hogyoku will never fall into your hands."

"Oh, you know about it? It looks like Urahara Kisuke has decided to trust you, unlike some others I can name. That man is intelligent beyond compare, and yet, he is so predictable. He put the Hogyoku in Kuchiki Rukia's soul, and sent you to Soul Society to die trying to prevent it from falling into my hands."

"Wrong again, Aizen. We didn't come here to die. We didn't even come to fight against the whole of Soul Society. _We came to fool you. _What you've been looking for the past 100 years is not here in Rukia's soul. You have failed, Aizen. Without the Hogyoku, your chances of winning are drastically reduced."

Aizen's smile slipped, and he turned to face Ichigo seriously. "You...saw through my plan?"

"That's right. And if you're thinking of paying a visit to the Urahara store to retrieve the Hogyoku, you won't find anything there. The Hogyoku has been taken elsewhere. In fact, I don't mind telling you it's somewhere on Antarctica. We made sure to dispose of it such that none of us knew the final location of that dreadful object. Have fun searching the whole of Antarctica for one small black ball, Aizen." Ichigo said this and laughed mockingly. Aizen seethed, and started walking forward, but before he had taken two steps, a hand pressed down on the hilt of his sheathed sword, preventing him from drawing it, and at the same time, a blade was pressed against his neck. Soifon and Yoruichi had arrived.

"That's as far as you go, Aizen!"

Within seconds, the whole of the Gotei-13 Elite had arrived at the place. Luckily, Yamamoto, Kyouraku and Ukitake had remembered not to reveal that Ichigo was the Prince, and they were staring fixedly at Aizen and his cronies, who had been stopped from moving by other Shinigami.

Yamamoto rumbled, "So we finally know of your treacherous deeds, Aizen Sosuke."

Aizen said coldly, "Yes, indeed, Captain Commander. You seem to have caught me. But too bad for you...your illusion of having put an end to my schemes is soon to be burst."

Ichigo immediately realised what he was trying to do, and said sharply to Yoruichi, "Get out of the way, Yoruichi!"

Without question, Yoruichi jumped back, ordering Soifon to do the same. Seconds after both jumped off, a bright yellow column descended on Aizen. The very ground he was standing on was ripped away, and started floating into the sky, where there was a massive crack, in which many Menos Grande were standing. Komamura shouted, "Joining a traitor such as him, and now siding with the Hollows...Is this what you think of Justice, Tosen?"

"I have said before that I only follow the path of least bloodshed. If I can achieve that by pledging my loyalty to Lord Aizen, so be it."

Komamura was left speechless by his words. Aizen looked coldly at Ichigo and said, "Very well, Kurosaki Ichigo. I will accept defeat this time. But rest assured, this kind of miracle will never happen again. Believe it or not, I have another Hogyoku of my own, and with it, I will win this war. I will become the first Shinigami to stand in the sky as the supreme ruler of the dimensions. Come and fight me. Come and beat me if you believe you can, Kurosaki Ichigo."

"Very well. I accept this challenge of yours. I will defeat you and win this war, _Aizen Sosuke_!"

Aizen glared at him one last time before he disappeared into Hueco Mundo. Promptly, the healing of the wounded started, as everyone started working despite the loss of three captains.

Two days later, in the Commander's office 

Yamamoto, Unohana, Kyouraku and Ukitake stood in the office, waiting. In a few minutes, Ichigo walked in. Ukitake started, "It's an honour to have you back with us again, your Highness."

"Indeed. It has been a while, _denka_."

Ichigo smiled at them and said, "Yeah, it's good to be back. I have to say, great performance back then. We successfully pulled off our stratagem thanks to your efforts as well. Keep up the good work, all of you!"

"We are honoured, your Highness. Now, you said that you had some instructions for us?"

"Yeah, that's right. From this point on, we'll have to work towards finding Aizen's true objectives and working against them. I think that Aizen will probably send out fighters to attack the real world, specifically my town, as a way of testing my abilities and to see what could be used against me in the town. I'd like Katsurou to come with me back to the World of the Living, but sooner or later, more backup will be needed."

"You're going back, your Highness?"

"Yeah. I've got my father and sisters in the living world, and I still consider them my family. I'm going to continue staying there."

"Well, we were hoping you would continue to stay with us and perhaps take command of our war effort. But if you wish to leave..."

Ichigo replied, "Don't worry, Yamamoto. You've been the commander for a long time, you can handle the war effort well yourself. Besides, I would like to request this of the four of you: Please keep my status a secret from everyone, including the other captains. I don't want them to know that I am a Prince just yet. I'll tell them myself when the time is right."

Ukitake suggested, "Well then, in that case, how about we name you an agent of the Soul Society? We could say that it is because you have aided us in the events of the past few days, and because you are a human."

"That sounds good, Jushiro. I'd like you all to start preparations for the war as you see fit. Don't worry about me, Katsurou and I should be able to handle everything going on in the real world. Send backup when you think it's necessary. My friends and I will take care of the real world by ourselves until then."

"Understood, your Highness!"

And with that, Ichigo smiled at the four captains and left the room, to leave for the Real World and prepare for the upcoming war.

_To be continued_

About Katsurou's Zanpakuto: _Haka_ means 'Grave' in Japanese, and in its sealed form, it takes the form of a Celtic Cross, as described by Ghost Writer Orange-kun. When Katsurou gives the command (Stand in silence, Haka!), it still takes the shape of a sword, except now it is double-bladed. It is able to cut through objects and people with great ease, except for those who have greater spiritual energy than his. It is also able to form puppets that are based on enemies defeated before, and these puppets are controlled by him. All this was thought up of by Ghost Writer Orange-kun, so if you have any queries, you can ask him or me. So how did I do this time, Orange-kun? Please do rate my performance! (I hope I got the shadow ability right, haha)

Translations

_Owari ni shiyou: _Let's bring this to an end.

Ichigo says this phrase when releasing his bankai (in this story), because he uses his bankai when he is really fighting seriously, and wishes to end the fight quickly.

_Hasshin: _It means 'oscillation' according to the English – Romaji translator I use, and this spell, which I made up, causes a powerful sound wave to spread out from the caster's hand. The sound causes everything in front of it to go into resonance, and if the object's structure is not strong enough, it cracks. This is basically what happens when a singer holds a high note and causes a glass to shatter: the sound waves cause the glass to vibrate, and since the structure is not very strong, the glass breaks due to the vibrations. Also, when one casts this spell while holding on to an object, the object will start to vibrate. And from what I've seen in Code Geass, a vibrating blade apparently has greater cutting power. That was how Ichigo shattered Byakuya's blade.

* The swastika may have been the symbol of Nazi Germany, but the symbol itself is not evil. In India (way before the Nazis), the symbol represented good luck. I just felt that I had to make this clear because of all the negative representations of the Swastika in the 20th Century.

Author's Note: Emotions...the one thing I really hate writing about. In real life, I do realise the importance of emotions, but writing about them really displeased me. However, I know now that following emotions is just as important as following a solid plot, and emotions have their place in every story, causing actions and reactions that lead to important advancements in the plot line itself. So from now on, I'll try to write more about emotions (I do have some emotional stuff planned out for later chapters). At this point, I don't know how good or bad I am at writing emotions, so please rate my performance in your reviews. The same goes for the fight scenes. I do think that the major fight scenes started appearing in this chapter, so I'd like to know how I've done. Please review, and tell me how well or badly I have done! And of course, if you think I've done badly, some pointers on how to improve these scenes would be most appreciated. Thank you, readers!


	8. A warlike prince

The Dark Prince

Hello once again, everyone! To all the manga readers, especially Falconrukichi and Hitsugayatoshirou1220, I've read the newest Bleach chapter after the two-week break, and while it's too early for me to form any opinions on the new story arc, I have to say I missed the interaction between Ichigo and his human friends, particularly Tatsuki – who will be appearing in this chapter. The only other thing I have to say is this: Remember, Isshin, _bowties are cool_. :D

**About Names: **I spelt the names of some characters according to the Bleach Wiki. Ulquiorra and Yammy's full names are 'Ulquiorra Cifer' and 'Yammy Llargo' respectively. To those who take music, how on earth can Yammy be 'Largo'? He's the exact opposite (isn't he? I forgot all the music terms)!

Oh, and since this was not made clear before, Katsurou is from Zero Squad – the squad of Ex-Captains who protect the realm of the King.

Chapter 8: A warlike prince

It had been a week since Ichigo and Katsurou had gone back to the Living World. Both had taken up residence at the Kurosaki Household, where Isshin had been more than happy to lend Katsurou a room. The man from the Zero Squad was glad to be staying on as a guest, but had found it hard to refer to and address Ichigo by his name rather than 'Your Highness' or '_Denka_'. Still, he managed, and became good friends with Yuzu, whom he helped on several occasions. One evening, over some Irish stew he had prepared, Ichigo, Isshin and Katsurou decided to discuss the war, while Yuzu and Karin had been sent off to bed.

Ichigo started, "Right now, the Hogyoku has been removed. Aizen already has his own version of that thing, but Urahara has assured us that it will take a long time to awaken. But still, he should have enough power to force it to awaken for a short period of time, and he can use that power to form Arrancars. We can expect to be attacked any day."

Katsurou continued, "We should be fine, as we have six Captain-level Shinigami and an equally-powerful Quincy. I would recommend that you hide your true strength, _Denka_. Aizen doesn't know much about you, but if he realises your true strength, he will undoubtedly try as hard as he can to destroy you. We've all seen that man's prowess in laying plans, and I think it's best to stay safe and give him no reason to worry, at least for now."

Isshin then took up the discussion, "I agree with that. Aizen will probably stick to basic tactics in the beginning of the war and send spies to investigate our situation, and probably to launch a pre-emptive strike against Ichigo. When that time comes, we must get him out of the battlefield and have others fight in his place."

"Well, I'd much rather not run away from a fight. Let's just see how it all plays out. Hopefully, I won't have to run away in the end."

Isshin and Katsurou reluctantly agreed to this, and the three men retired to their respective bedrooms, thinking about the war and what was going to come.

As it turned out, they did not have to wait very long. A few days later, Ichigo felt some odd reiatsu when he was at home. It felt like that of a Shinigami, and yet like a Hollow at the same time. Katsurou entered his room at that time and said urgently, "Your Highness!"

"Yeah, I felt it too! Let's go!"

The two got out of their fake bodies and ran out of the room, both wanting to investigate what was giving off all that reiatsu. As they got out, they noticed that fire trucks and police cars were heading towards in one direction. Clearly, whoever Aizen had sent had made quite a racket such that even the non-spiritually aware people could see and hear. As the two men jumped over the buildings trying to find the source of disturbance, Ichigo muttered, "Damn! If all those people head to where our enemies are, they'll get slaughtered!"

He turned to Katsurou and ordered, "Katsurou! Do you remember where the office of the mayor of Karakura Town is?"

"Yes! I memorised the whole town map, _Denka_!"

"Great! Go there and use kido to set off a small explosion in an empty room in the building! Make sure nobody's hurt, though! It'll divert the police's attention away from our enemies!"

"Understood!

Katsurou flash-stepped off, and several minutes later, Ichigo looked in the direction he had taken to see smoke rising from building used by the mayor and his staff. Seconds later, he saw all the emergency vehicles head off towards the Mayor's building. Quickly, he hurried off to the source of the reiatsu, which was in the park. He landed softly on the grass and looked around. To his shock, all the people who had been in the park were dead – in fact, their souls had disappeared. Ichigo ran over to a woman who seemed to still be alive. He took her in his arms and asked urgently, "Hey, are you alright? What happened?"

The woman simply breathed, "_Help…_" A second later, she screamed out, and her soul exited her body, taking the form of a blue vapour cloud. Before Ichigo's surprised gaze, the vapour sped away deeper into the forest and towards two men standing a distance away. Ichigo quickly made his way over to them. He noted that one of the men was abnormally large, almost twice as tall as him. He was muscular and had his chest exposed. He also was bald, but had a ponytail at the back of his head. The other man was of average height, had messy black hair, piercing green eyes and very pale skin. He also had green lines running from his eyes to the bottom of his jaw line. Interestingly, both carried swords like Shinigami, but had holes on their upper body like Hollows. They were both clad in white clothes, along with black socks and sandals.

Ichigo walked over to them, expertly hiding his apprehension at seeing the strange two. Looking at the area immediately surrounding them, he was slightly shocked when he saw Tatsuki lying near them. He increased his pace and made it to the place where the two men were standing, and stood before Tatsuki. He knelt down, took her in his arms and lightly slapped her cheeks and said, "_Tatsuki! Are you alright, Tatsuki?_"

The girl in his arms passed out, but luckily, her soul remained in her body. Ichigo put her down, satisfied that she was alive, but otherwise angry that she had been hurt. Facing the two men, who had not done anything since he arrived, he said in an aloof tone, "Kurosaki Ichigo, local representative of Soul Society. And who might you be?"

Returning the distant but polite greeting, the shorter man said, "I am Ulquiorra Cifer and this is my…associate, Yammy Llargo. We are proud followers of Lord Aizen."

"Yeah. I guessed as much. So what do you want? What did you do to all these people?"

"Yammy here sucked out all their souls."

Before Ichigo could reply, Yammy snapped, "What the hell are we doing just standing around, Ulquiorra? Enough talk, I'll pulverize him this instant!"

Without warning, he struck out with his fist, and Ichigo drew his sword just in time to clock his arm. Oddly, even though flesh had met his blade, Yammy's skin wasn't torn at all."

"Well, aren't you a tough one. You have reiatsu coating your skin such that a blade won't easily harm it. But still, I can always try, can't I?"

With a mock macho cry, Ichigo moved forward and slashed. This time, he used more force, and his blade succeeded in piercing Yammy's skin. It was only a shallow cut, however, as he was holding back.

"There. Let me finish now, will you? What are you both here for? To kill me?"

"Not quite, Kurosaki Ichigo. We were ordered to find out just how much of a threat you are."

"Well, you both seem powerful. I'm glad Aizen is taking me seriously."

Ulquiorra's facial expression remained unchanged, and he said, "Show us your true strength, Kurosaki Ichigo. Give us a reason to kill you, or let you live."

Ichigo's eyes widened as Yammy came running towards him at that point. Before he could dodge, Yammy's fist connected with him, and he hurriedly stepped back. He was still holding back, but he knew that Urahara and Yoruichi would show up soon. Then, Yammy sneered, "Still holding back? Well, let's see how you deal with this!"

With that, he held up his hand, and to Ichigo's horror, he pointed it straight at Tatsuki. Red energy built up at his fist, and then flew straight to Tatsuki with a noise similar to a low-pitched drum being hit. Ichigo's eyes doubled in size as he realised that a projectile of spiritual energy was heading right towards Tatsuki. Instantly, he flash-stepped over to the girl and held her close to him with his back turned towards Yammy.

The projectile struck him square on the back, and he gasped with pain and lurched forward. Luckily, his own spiritual energy had been higher, and he escaped without any serious injuries. Unfortunately, the hit had been hard and he was in too much pain to fight back effectively. Luckily, at that moment, help arrived.

"_Stand in Silence, Haka!_"

"_Sing, Benihime!_"

A bright red blast of energy hit Yammy and forced him back. As soon as he stopped, before he knew what happened, his arm had been cut off. He looked back with a cry of shock and found Katsurou behind him kneeling on one knee, holding his Shikai. Ulquiorra's eyes widened slightly as he saw Katsurou cut off Yammy's arm as if it had been made of butter. Yammy bellowed furiously and drew his sword to attack the two Shinigami who had just arrived.

Urahara turned towards Ichigo and yelled, "We've got this area covered, Mr. Kurosaki! Leave now, and take care of Ms Arisawa!"

Ichigo, glad that Urahara had had the good sense not to refer to him by '_Denka_', replied, "Alright! Thanks!"

He cradled Tatsuki in his arms and flash-stepped off. Ulquiorra looked slightly surprised at his sudden departure, but then said, "Yammy, that is enough. We are leaving."

Katsurou raised his eyebrows and called out, "What, leaving already?"

"We have specific orders from Lord Aizen, and I have carried them out. That man we were told to investigate may be strong, but he is not up to our level yet. He is mere trash compared to the strength of us Espada. Furthermore, he has weaknesses that are easily exploited, and he runs away from a fight. There is no need for either of us to waste time tracking him down and killing him."

Having said that, the two Arrancars stepped into a Garganta and disappeared into the darkness within. Urahara and Katsurou sealed their swords and left the area.

Meanwhile, elsewhere in town

Ichigo jumped across buildings, keeping to less-populated areas, while holding Tatsuki. Finally, he came back home and brought her into the clinic. He laid her on the bed, glad that both his sisters were out. Placing his hands over her abdomen, directly above her Soul Sleep and Chain Link, he started healing her, restoring her spiritual energy.

A few minutes later, her eyes fluttered open, and seeing a head of shocking orange hair, she muttered, "I-Ichigo?"

"Relax. You're still not fully healed. Just take it easy now."

"Healed? What are you doing, Ichigo?"

"Like I said, you're not fully healed yet. I'm healing you right now."

"Healing me? How? And what happened in the park earlier? Who were those two guys wearing white?"

Ichigo said, in a slightly louder voice, "Just relax, Tatsuki. The answers are coming. I promise."

Fortunately, Tatsuki believed him and relaxed. After a few minutes, Ichigo was done, and let her sit up. Tatsuki faced Ichigo and was about to open her mouth to speak when Ichigo said, "Alright then, answers. Where do I begin?"

Tatsuki said dryly, "I think the beginning is a good place to start."

"Actually, no. Why don't you start. Tell me everything you know about me that seem out of place."

"Out of place? There're quite a few things about you that are out of place. Not just you, but also Orihime. Since she's suddenly become somewhat close to you, I assume you're involved in it somehow. Remember two days ago, you left the classroom saying you had to go to the bathroom? At that time, I saw you running out of the schoolitself. You were dressed in different clothes and you were carrying a freaking sword! What was that all about? Are you some kind of modern-day samurai in disguise or something?"

Ichigo chuckled, "Well, not really. I'm not a samurai. I'm actually a Shinigami."

Tatsuki's eyes widened.

"T-There are no such things as Shinigami!"

"There are. I'm a Shinigami and it's my job to balance the flow of souls between earth and the afterlife."

"Does this have anything to do with the monsters that I sometimes see around town?"

"Yes, it does. You see, there are three different kinds of souls..."

Ichigo then started explaining about the different kinds of souls while Tatsuki listened on in silent wonder.

After twenty minutes, the explanation was done, and Tatsuki now understood the spiritual world. She asked, "So how long have you been a Shinigami? Was it since you met that transfer student? Her name was Rukia, right?"

"Actually, to tell you the truth, it goes back a long way. I mean _really_ long. Remember I told you that Shinigami live for extremely long periods of time? I'm actually part of a group that has life spans that are very long, even for Shinigami standards. In all honesty, I've been alive for almost three millennia now."

Tatsuki gasped, "3000 years? And you look just like a teenager like me? That's impossible!"

"No, it's possible. I lived for slightly less than 3000 years. But I died about a century ago, then reincarnated 16 years ago – when I was actually born on earth."

Tatsuki laughed in disbelief, "So reincarnation is real now? What next?"

"My sword is actually a living, sentient being."

"What? Your sword?"

"Yeah. This isn't just a sword actually. It is a blade that has a spirit within it. This spirit is what gives the blade its strength and special abilities. By communicating with the spirit and learning its name, I can find out how to increase the power of the sword to fight my enemies."

"Enemies? What enemies? Those...Hollows, was it?"

"Yeah, but now, there are more enemies."

Ichigo hesitated, before saying, "Tatsuki, we're at war now."

"What, with the Hollows?"

"Well...yes. But this time it's different. We are facing abnormally powerful Hollows, and these are being led by three Shinigami, who defected from Soul Society."

"What? Why would they defect?"

"There is a Royal Family in the afterlife too. The leader is called Aizen Sosuke, and his goal is to create a key to the dimension in which the royal family resides, and take their place."

Reluctantly, Ichigo said, "Tatsuki, I don't want to keep any secrets from you, so I'll tell you who I _really _am. I am a member of that Royal Family. To be specific, I am the Second Prince of the Royal Family."

Tatsuki stared at him with wide eyes at first, then burst out laughing.

"You – a bloody prince? Give me a break!"

"Ok, that was definitely not the reaction I was expecting."

"Seriously, how do you expect me to believe that?"

"But I am! Because...damn, you're right. I really have no way of proving it to you. Well, look. Haven't you noticed any change in me since Rukia came? It was at that time that I regained my memories of being a Prince."

"Well...actually, yes. You did change greatly after she came into the picture. You were all of a sudden more polite, and you also smiled more. In fact, I thought she had become your girlfriend or something!"

"Nah, that's impossible. I've only just met her. She's just a trusted friend."

Tatsuki pulled a face, then grew more serious asa she asked, "If you're fighting a war now...what about Orihime? Is she safe?"

Ichigo remained silent, and Tatsuki continued, "She's not, is she? She's also fighting, somehow."

Ichigo answered, "Yes. She has her own abilities and is aiding us in this war. She isn't actually a front-line fighter, so she isn't in the thick of danger. But she will be affected by the war."

"You're supposed to be powerful aren't you?"

"Can you protect her?"

Ichigo looked her in the eys and said, "It is my responsibility to look after everyone in this town, and she is no exception. I will do my best to protect her. Of course, I can't be there all the time, but I can try."

Tatsuki nodded, and looking down, she said, "I'm sorry I'm pushing all this on you, Ichigo, but you're the only one I can trust with her now. I'd do it myself, but without any powers, I can't do anything. That big guy in the park earlier would have killed me if you hadn't healed me in time."

"Don't worry about it, Tatsuki. Weakness is not a sin. In fact, we're fighting against those who believe that strength is what really matters."

Ichigo then looked away before continuing, "Now...I have my own selfish request to make, Tatsuki. I'd like you to stay out of the fighting. Right now, you have barely enough spiritual energy to see spiritual beings like me. But you have no way of using them effectively in a fight."

Tatsuki wanted to argue, but she saw sense and said, "I guess you're right. If I fight, I'll simply held everyone back."

"But that's not permanent though. There is a chance that your powers may develop much later. If that happens, and you receive sufficient training, I could let you join the fight along with the rest of us. Well, of course, I might not do so, but there is a chance."

"What kind of powers?"

Ichigo explained the powers held by Ishida, Inoue and Sado, as well as the method in which the powers were obtained.

"Well, alright then! That sounds good. I may never get special abilities, but there is a chance then."

Ichigo grinned, "Yeah, there is! Now then, you're fully healed. I'll take this opportunity to show you that everything I've told you about Shinigami is true."

"How so?"

"By taking you home in an unbelievable manner."

He took Tatsuki outside and asked her to hold on to him. Once that was done, he jumped up high and onto the top of a nearby building. Tatsuki yelled out in shock as he jumped from that building to the next. Soon, after five minutes of building-hopping, a very pale Tatsuki landed near her home with Ichigo.

The Prince laughed and said, "There! Now you know that everything I said was true!

Tatsuki laughed shakily and said, "That was better than every roller-coaster ride I've ever been on!"

"Told you I was good!"

Tatsuki laughed again and said goodbye as Ichigo left.

Later than evening

Katsurou reported to Ichigo the events of that day, especially the reaction of the Arrancars after Ichigo had left the scene. Thinking about it, Ichigo said, "They probably think I'm not worth killing, but they will still attack. We've got to be prepared for anything that comes our way."

"Understood. Also, I just received a message from the Captain Commander, saying that an advance squad will be sent to earth to assist us following the first appearance of Arrancars created with the aid of the Hogyoku and affiliated with Aizen."

"Is that so? Who's in the squad?"

"The leader is Captain Hitsugaya, and with him are Vice Captains Matsumoto and Abarai, as well as Third Seat Madarame Ikkaku and Fifth Seat Ayasegawa Yumichika. Kuchiki Rukia is included as well. They'll arrive two days from now."

"Well, that makes up a powerful team. But the three most powerful will be under a limiter, which makes the two lieutenants about as powerful, perhaps even less powerful than the third-seat. When will they be arriving?"

"Tomorrow. They'll probably try to come to school."

"Well, that's good for us. Let's surprise them a bit then, shall we?"

"How so?"

Ichigo grinned, "We have memory replacement devices. I no longer need to be a student as I finished my schooling a long time ago. In fact, I'm more qualified than some of my teachers!"

Katsurou snapped his fingers as he realised what the Prince was planning, Grinning at his taste in pranks, he laughed, "My goodness, you still have that fantastic taste in pranks, _Denka_!"

"Yeah! Who says we can't have fun during a war?"

The two men laughed and went off to their respective rooms to sleep.

Two days later 

An odd group of students walked along the corridors of Karakura High School. Students started whispering to one another about them the moment they set eyes on them.

"Look at that kid! How come he has white hair? And the other one, he's got bright red hair! Must be those delinquents who dye and bleach their hair!"

"Woah! Look at that hot blond woman! Think I stand a chance with her?"

"Yeah, as much chance as that bald guy has of growing hair!"

As he heard that, Ikkaku turned around with a vein popping in his temple and said in a low-pitched, deadly voice, "_Who the hell said...that I was bald?_"

Everyone cowered in fear, and Toshiro snapped, "Don't lose focus, Madarame! Ignore them!"

They walked on, and soon found Ichigo's spiritual pressure. Renji had become familiar with Ichigo back in Soul Society, as he felt that he owed him for saving Rukia, and the two had even become friends in the aftermath of Aizen's departure. Smirking at the chance of meeting his friend/rival and perhaps besting him in the fights that were to come, he stepped forward and kicked open the door to the classroom.

Instantly, all eyes were on him. Ignoring them, Renji called out, "I know you're in there, Ichigo! Get out here right now!"

The teacher simply raised his eyebrows, then something seemed to click and he said, "Ah, you must be the transfer students! Welcome to Karakura High School."

The group of 'students' turned to the teacher in surprise, and a few jaws dropped. The teacher was a man with bright orange hair, dressed in a brown suit and tie, and wearing horn-rimmed glasses. For some reason, he was affecting a Scottish accent.

"I-Ichigo?"

"You must be Abarai. Please take your seat, and remember, it's Mr Kurosaki. I can;t have you going around disrespecting the teachers now, can I?"

Toshiro snapped, "Stop fooling around, Kurosaki!"

"That's Mr Kurosaki to you, young man! Now take your seats before I send the lot of you to detention!"

Reluctantly, the group of Soul Reapers took their places, and on the way, Toshiro muttered to Rukia, "_You never told me he was a bloody teacher! If we had known, we wouldn't have gone so far as to disguise ourselves as students!_"

"_My apologies Captain. The last time I checked, however, he was definitely a student. I'll check with him later._"

Matsumoto added with a grin, "_But who would've thought a teacher would look this hot? Especially a human one!_"

"_Focus, Matsumoto!_"

"_Feeling jealous, Captain Hitsugaya?_"

Ichigo raised his eyebrows and said, "Are you lot having difficulty taking a seat?"

"Umm...no, Mr Kurosaki!"

"Well, good. Now then, let's get started with Elizabethan Literature! Turn to page 54 of your books. Now, can anyone define a sonnet for me?"

The rest of the lesson proceeded drearily, with some paying attention to the literature, like Rukia, Inoue, Ishida and most of the girls. Others bored to hell by it, including all the men in Toshiro's advance squad (except Yumichika, who found it quite beautiful), while others were eyeing the teacher himself, like Matsumoto.

Soon, it was over, but then they had to go for their music lesson...which was taught by a man named Murayama. He called out in a loud voice, with a distinct Irish accent, when everyone entered, "Hello everyone and welcome to today's music lessons! Today, we are going to have an Irish Music Appreciation session!"

With that, he picked up a multi-coloured musical instrument made of cloth from beside him and held it up.

Toshiro muttered, "Oh no..."

"Wow, all the teachers in this school are so hot...Hey, is something wrong, Captain?"

"Yes, Matsumoto. That instrument there is called a bagpipe, and it's the most annoying human instrument I have ever had the misfortune of hearing."

"Surely it can't be that bad, Captain Hitsugaya? It doesn't look ugly, perhaps it might sound good..."

In a few minutes, Yumichika's face was contorted in pain as he tried to shut his ears to the sound of Katsurou's bagpipes. Luckily for him, the lesson was soon over, and he could go. Toshiro immediately decided that enough was enough and stormed over to the staffroom. There was a telephone there for students to call for a teacher to step out, and Toshiro looked at it blankly. Luckily for them, Rukia knew how to use it and took it from him.

"Good afternoon, this is Kuchiki Rukia, requesting to see Mr Kurosaki and Mr Murayama."

The doors opened shortly after and out stepped Ichigo and Katsurou, still in their working clothes, both carrying mugs of steaming tea .

Toshiro seethed, "Is this some kind of joke, Kurosaki?"

"Well...it's more of a disguise than anything" ,replied Ichigo off-handedly, while Katsurou nodded in agreement, sipping from his mug.

"Well, I don't find it amusing at all!"

"I thought you wouldn't. Besides, what's wrong? You can come dressed as students, but we can't come disguised as teachers?

"You both look too young to be teachers!"

Ichigo smirked, "And you look too young to be in High School."

"Why you-"

"Alright alright, stay calm. It;s just a disguise. Now come along. We can talk at home."

Toshiro calmed down and said, "Alright, fine. Let's go."

Later, at the Kurosaki Household 

Everyone gathered in Ichigo's room to discuss the war. Toshiro explained about the arrancars and about the evolutionary stages in Hollows. Finally, they decided where everyone was going to stay. Rukia took Ichigo's closet once again, Toshiro and Matsumoto took Inoue's place, Renji took Urahara's place, and the two Eleventh Division men went off elsewhere. Before everyone broke off to their respective locations, Ichigo went downstairs and came back with a few papers in his hand.

He handed one to each of the members of the team, and said, "What I've just given you is a map of Karakura Town. Memorise the map and figure out ways to use the landscape to your advantage during a fight."

The Shinigami had looked at the map dubiously, but had taken them anyway.

Nightfall, two days later

Ichigo gasped as he once again felt a source of the strange mix of Hollow and Shinigami reiatsu enter town. Rukia burst out of her closet, and the two of them burst out of their bodies and left the room in their Shinigami forms. Katsurou, and the other Shinigami across town did the same.

High up in the sky above the town was an open Garganta. From it stepped six men, all wearing uniforms that were different in design but had the same basic combination of white clothes with black socks and sandals. The leader had blue hair and electric blue eyes, with jaw-like bones on his cheek. The rest behind him seemed subservient to him. Grimmjow Jaegerjacquez, the leader, ordered, "Find and kill anyone with the slightest bit of spiritual pressure!"

The men behind him disappeared with a few booming sounds. Two of them went straight to Toshiro and Matsumoto, seeing as they were among the more powerful sources of spiritual pressure in the area. The others also targeted the Shinigami in the area.

Sado sensed them and quickly came out to fight them. He was faced with a short man with a large mask fragment on his head. The man smirked and attacked him straight away, with his hand.

Sado was shocked, but reacted quickly and grabbed his enemy's hand and twisted it. Before he could do much else, he heard a voice call out, "_The First Dance: Tsukishiro!_"

A circle of bright white spiritual energy gathered under the arrancar's feet, just big enough to cover him. Sado quickly stepped back. As soon as he was out of range, the spiritual energy moved directly upwards and became a pillar of ice covering the arrancar. Sado gave a thumbs-up to Rukia, who had stepped down earlier along with Katsurou and Ichigo.

However, their victory was short-lived. A powerful spiritual energy hit them, and everyone had to shield their faces, Ichigo looked up and snapped, "Who is it?"

It was the blue-haired man, who sneered back, "Grimmjow Jaegerjacquez, Sexta Arrancar! Now then, who's the strongest among you?"

"What?"

"You heard me – Who's the strongest?"

Everyone remained silent. Irritated, Grimmjow made the first move. Sensing that Rukia had less spiritual pressure than the others, he went straight to her, and put out his hand to impale her. Quickly, Ichigo pointed his finger between him and her and said sharply, "_Hado #1: Sho!_"

The blast was small, but it was enough to force Grimmjow's hand to miss its target. Grimmjow spat at the ground and faced Ichigo. Before he could strike, however, Katsurou came forward and pushed him back with his blade. Grimmjow grinned, "Well, you're a strong one!"

"_Stand in silence, Haka!_"

His blade changed to become thinner and double-bladed, and he struck out hard. Grimmjow hadn't even bothered to draw his sword, and that proved to be a big mistake. The blade almost sliced off his arm. Landing on one of the roofs nearby, breathing heavily, Grimmjow quickly unsheathed his blade to fight Katsurou.

As the two powerful fighters crossed blades, Grimmjow taunted, "It takes a lot to cut my skin, I'll give you that. Still, you're going to have to do better than that if you're going to defeat me! Especially if I use my sword release!"

"Sword release? That's interesting. I have never seen the sword release of an Arrancar before."

"Pray you never will, 'cos you'll never survive it!"

Katsurou remained expressionless as they crossed the skies in leaps and bounds, causing small explosions of spiritual power as they fought. Both were equally matched, and Grimmjow was getting tired of the fight, as he could tell that Katsurou was holding back.

He taunted, "Come on! Aren't you going to _really_ fight? Cos if you don't...I'm sure killing your friends would be very satisfactory indeed!"

Katsurou growled, "You wouldn't dare. Besides...they're not easy to kill."

"Oh, how about I out it to the test then?"

Katsurou pushed him back with a mighty cry, preventing him from getting close to the people on the ground. Grimmjow continued to taunt him. "What, scared of what's going to happen to them? A true warrior never looks back! He leaves the others to take care of themselves!"

Katsurou gasped as a sudden pain shot through his head when he heard that. He ignored it and forced himself to fight on. However, Grimmjow was quick to catch the short moment of weakness. He kicked Katsurou's side, shouting, "What's wrong now? Too weak to carry on? Here's a suggestion: Get the hell out of here! You may be string, but you're nowhere near my level! Just get out of here and run to your mummy!"

Ichigo glared at the blue-haired man for taunting his opponents like that, but his expression soon turned to one of concern when he saw Katsurou. Oddly, his friend was standing in the sky, being very still. Grimmjow was looking at him in his usual cocky manner, but Ichigo detected a slight bit of uncertainty in his expression. He turned back to Katsurou and was shocked to see a great amount of spiritual pressure slowly emanating from his body. Black reiatsu outlined with silver flowed from him like water from a broken container. Ichigo muttered, "What's going on? Katsurou! Are you alright?"

Katsurou didn't reply. Instead, he said, just loud enough for all to hear him, "_Bankai._"

Grimmjow raised his sword defensively, knowing the power of a Bankai. Katsurou's weapon changed into a short staff with large blades on both ends. The blades were double-sided and had elegant Kanji engraved on them. Katsurou spun it around rapidly, then flew straight at Grimmjow. Instantly, Grimmjow suffered a massive cut to the arm.

Gasping at the speed of the attack, the blue-haired Arrancar jumped back, thinking, "_If it weren't for my advanced instincts, I'd have lost that arm! Just what is this guy? He's so powerful, but for some reason, it seems as if he's not in control!_"

He blocked the attacks continuously, but noticed that for every time his blade touched Katsurou's, a little bit was chipped off. Knowing that he was outclassed in this form, Grimmjow shouted, "Grind, Pantera!"

Blue reiatsu surrounded him. However, before he could go into his released form, Katsurou flash-stepped over to him and stuck his blade into the fire-like reiatsu. As soon as he did that, Grimmjow's reiatsu suddenly dissipated, and he didn't change his form.

The now-fearful arrancar shouted, "W-What did you do, you bastard?"

The only reply he got was a slash across the chest. Once again, it was only thanks to his instincts that he was able to avoid a much-worse injury. Still, the slash was deep. He screamed out in pain as he fell to the ground, defeated. Katsurou pointed his blade directly at the ground, directly above Grimmjow, intending to fly down and reverse-impale Grimmjow with his blade. But before he could do that, Ichigo shouted, "That's enough!"

Blankly, Katsurou looked down. Ichigo flash-stepped over to him and noticed that his eyes were completely black. He placed his hand over Katsurou's wrist, preventing him from attacking Grimmjow. After a few minutes, expression suddenly returned to Katsurou's face, and he doubled over, panting heavily.

"What...did I do?"

"You don't remember? You went into bankai and attacked Grimmjow relentlessly!"

Katsurou looked at him somewhat fearfully and asked, "Did I kill anyone? Did I attack any allies?"

"No, you didn't. In fact, Grimmjow is still alive, only incapacitated. Anyway, what was that back there? Were you even in control of yourself?"

"I...wasn't. Could I explain it later?"

Ichigo looked at his friend with concern and replied, "Well, alright then. Grimmjow can no longer fight. Let's go help the others."

Rukia cast her senses around the area, then called out, "Ichigo! Renji and Third Seat Madarame have ended their fights, but Captain Hitsugaya and Vice Captain Matsumoto are having trouble!"

"I see. In that case, Rukia, can you use kido to determine their location?"

"Yeah!"

Rukia painted some symbols on her arms and a circle in the ground with some special ink, then laying her hands over it, she cast the 58th Bakudo, a spell for tracking sources of spiritual energy.

Once she had located the others, she called Ichigo over. Ichigo drew symbols on one of his arms as well and held it out, saying, "_Bakudo #77: Tentei Kura!_"

A square of spiritual energy formed itself around his hand, and he spoke into it, "Toshiro! Rangiku! Are you both there?"

"What? How are you-"

"It's tentei kura! Just listen up! I can help you both win your respective battles, but you have to follow my instructions very carefully!"

"We're a bit busy here!"

"I'm trying to help you win!"

"Alright! Fine, since we are still waiting for permission to lift the limiters, go ahead and tell us your plan."

"Thank you. Now, both of you, head west! Keep going, I'm tracking your movements with a tracking spell and I'll tell you when to stop!"

"Ok, got it! And by the way, it's not Toshiro, it's Captain Hitsugaya to you!"

Ichigo chuckled and monitored their movement. Then, he instructed, "Now go to your left, another 500 metres."

The next instruction was, "Alright, by now, you should see a structure with a flat roof covering an open air area. Lure your enemies on top of the roof."

It was tricky but the Captain and the vice captain managed to do it. Soon, the two arrancars were on the roof, and Toshiro and Matsumoto were more than twenty metres away. Shawlong Kufang said in his calm voice, "Are you done running? Good. I wouldn't want to attack a Captain when he's running. Now prepare yourself!"

Ichigo cried, "Alright, use kido now! Use a fire-type kido and aim below the roof of the building!"

"What? Why below the building?"

"Just trust me and do it! Stay away from the building, but fire at it when your enemies are on top of it!"

Feeling awkward, Toshiro pointed his palm below the roof of the building and said, "_Hado #33: Sokatsui!_"

Shawlong smirked as the spell hit a target below him.

"Is the aim of a Captain really that bad? Or were you trying to bring down the building to make me lose my footing? That won't work!"

He prepared to attack, but before he could do that, he heard a rumbling noise from below and looked down uncertainly. Without warning, the roof tore apart, and _a bright pillar of bluish flames went up into the sky_, covering the two arrancar.

Toshiro and Matsumoto looked at the scene in shock. He had fired a simple _Sokatsui_ with his limiter on, and it had caused a bright pillar of flames to erupt from the building and consume the two arrancars. Ichigo, seeing the flames from a distance, ordered, "Now! The two arrancars are badly burnt, they'll be weaker now!"

Toshiro had already prepared himself, and when the two arrancars came out of the flames, he and his lieutenant immediately struck, and killed the two arrancars. The battle of Karakura Town was over.

_To be continued _

Personally I have nothing against bagpipes, I think bagpipe music is fine. But I don't think Toshiro and the others would appreciate it, though. As for using the telephone to call the teachers, that's how we do it in Singapore, so I included that bit there. The telephone is actually used to send the announcement to all the teachers in the staffroom. The teachers concerned will then step out to meet the students.


	9. Beginning of sobriety

The Dark Prince

Hello once again, everyone, and hope all of you had a great Halloween! Congratulations, Bcsaturdai! Your review to the last chapter was spot on, and it was supposed to be revealed in the next chapter. To InARealPickle, sorry if you didn't like the last chapter, but I personally consider the content of this chapter and probably the next to be somewhat of a turning point in the story, so I hope you enjoy Chapter 9. Either way, the criticism wasn't bad. More constructive criticism would be welcome, because then I can make further improvements *hint hint*.

My thoughts on the latest Bleach Episode (Skip if you don't want spoilers!)

BLEACH 295: Alright, did anyone else find it über-creepy that Aizen knew _absolutely everything_ about Ichigo's battles, including their purpose, the cause, the outcome and the effect on Ichigo's powers and ability to be a threat to him (Aizen)? Also, how can there have been cameras on Sokyoku hill? Even if there were, they should have been destroyed by the reiatsu given off during the fight between Ichigo and Byakuya. _So how on earth was Aizen watching very closely the fight between Ichigo and Byakuya_? Either way, I'm glad Isshin is finally appearing in the next episode along with Yoruichi and Urahara (the spymaster!) – I've not been watching the anime like a proper regular watcher, just skipping to the next scenes and such. But next week will be worth watching. And from there, it's a short hop to Final Getsuga Tensho awesomeness.

**Remember this:** "_Flashes of memories streamed into [Ichigo's] head at an alarming pace. The image of a large palace, a grinning man, who looked around 25 years old, with blond hair, a warmly smiling woman with dark blue hair, who looked 16, and a boy and girl who looked similar to each other, with the same excited smiles and light brown hair, both of whom looked like 12 years old. Then, finally, another image came, this one of a young boy, probably just 6 years old, who looked very scared, and had dark brown hair and lighter brown eyes._" – Chapter 1, _The Dark Prince _

Who is the scared boy? Find out the shocking truth in this chapter.

Chapter 9: Beginning of sobriety

_Flashback Starts_

_Ichigo stood victorious on Sokyoku hill, having won this battle. He had successfully fooled Aizen into revealing his treachery using the Hogyoku as bait. However, there was no Hogyoku to gain, and Aizen had revealed his hand for nothing. Even so, it was not a complete victory, as Aizen had had his own Hogyoku for a long time, perhaps even before Urahara made his. His plans were not completely destroyed, they were only delayed. _

_However, even so, Ichigo felt satisfied as he surveyed the results. Aizen's confidence had been shaken by the fact that he was facing powerful and intelligent enemies. His friends had faced powerful adversaries in Soul Society and gotten stronger in the process. He had gotten back with his powerful allies, Captains Yamamoto, Unohana, Ukitake and Kyouraku. He had rejoined his friend and knight Katsurou. Most importantly, he had started the war well. _

_Despite all these sources of contentment, however, the dark prince felt a hint of unease. Ever since seeing Aizen's face, something had stirred in the back of his head. Even Zangetsu was restless, but not wanting to worry about it, Ichigo had occupied his mind with other work, and planning for the war. But for how long would the truth last without being realised by his Highness?_

_Flashback ends_

Ichigo and was in his room reading the newspaper, while Rukia sat in her closet reading her manga. They remained silent for a while before Rukia broke the silence by asking, "Why do you think Aizen defected, Ichigo?"

"Hmm? Well, right now, Jushiro and Shunsui are investigating the real reason, but I think he defected because he wants to destroy the Spirit King. That was the first thing that came to mind when he left us saying that he was going to stand in the sky, and that he was going to be the supreme ruler of the dimensions."

"And how's he going to do that? I think only the Commander would know how to even access the realm in which his Majesty resides, well, you too."

"Let's put it this way – The problem with realms is that there is no fixed position for its entrance and exit. Instead, the doors leading in and out of the realms are all over the place. One simply needs the appropriate knowledge and a key. We can open a gate to Soul Society from anywhere in the world as long as we know how. The same goes for the King's realm. As long as one has the key, one can enter the King's realm from anywhere in the world."

Ichigo paused, and then continued, "If this really is Aizen's goal, then his main problem is with the key itself. He'll have to somehow get the location out of the Captain Commander."

Rukia said confidently, "Well then, it's a good thing that the commander is in Soul Society, where Aizen can't easily reach him."

"And that he's powerful enough to defend himself. That's why the commander is the only one in the Gotei-13 who knows the location of the key."

"The king…is he your father?"

Ichigo looked up at her seriously as she asked that question. Then he looked down and said, "No, that's not exactly how the system works. It's different. Maybe I'll tell you the whole story someday."

"Oh alright…wait, there's something else. How did Captain Hitsugaya and Lieutenant Matsumoto defeat their enemies in that fight a few days back? I saw a massive pillar of flames, but I have no idea what caused it."

Ichigo chuckled, "Oh, that. I told them to lure their enemies over a gas station, and then to ignite the gas. The spiritual energy mixed with the flames was a potent weapon against the arrancar."

Rukia chuckled and left it at that and the two continued reading. Ichigo found little of interest in his newspaper, but as he left it aside, he didn't notice one article. This article had this headline, "_Polar research team returns home_"and below that, the sub-headline read, "_Team's experiments successful, leader reports big find that is yet to be revealed._"

These matters, however, were of miniscule importance to an impatient Zanpakuto spirit at the moment. Zangetsu had wanted to speak to Ichigo about the unease he had been feeling since Aizen's departure, and he had to do it now. Quickly, he summoned his partner into his inner world. Ichigo looked surprised as he landed on his feet on the side of a skyscraper.

"Why have you brought me here? What's wrong, Zangetsu?"

The Zanpakuto spirit stepped off the pole he always stood on and walked past Ichigo, saying in his usual deep, resonating voice, "_Follow me, Ichigo. I have something to show you._"

He disappeared with a flash-step, and Ichigo promptly followed suit. After several steps, they arrived to the front of a certain building. Zangetsu stepped inside, with Ichigo following him. The reaper soon realised that he was standing in a library. He facepalmed and said in a half-disappointed, half-amused tone, "All these years and I never realised that there was a bloody _library_ in my inner world! What kind of books are in here, Zangetsu?"

"_This is no ordinary library, Ichigo. This is an archive of all your memories. You have been alive for longer than any human and most Shinigami, and every single memory of that life has been recorded here._"

"This is great! But why did you bring me here, though?"

Instead of answering directly, Zangetsu said cryptically, "_When you first faced Aizen on Sokyoku hill, you felt apprehension, because you were afraid that something might go wrong in your stratagem, that someone might die because of your plan. Later, when Aizen's treachery was successfully revealed, when he left Soul Society without the Hogyoku, and no lives were lost, you felt satisfaction._"

"Yes, I know that. Where exactly are you going with this, Zangetsu?"

"_There was something else you felt that time when you faced Aizen. That was recognition, and a modicum of pity. Although at that time, you didn't realise that you had felt these. However, I thought that it was important to find out why you had felt them, and I investigated here in the library._"

"And what did you find?" Ichigo asked, inexplicably afraid of the answer.

"_See for yourself._"

He opened a book and brought it to Ichigo, who looked at it carefully. The moment the book came to be within a metre of Ichigo's eyes, he suddenly found himself being sucked into the book somehow. He tried to fight it, but saw that Zangetsu had also been sucked in – or rather, Zangetsu had _allowed himself_ to be sucked in. Trusting the Zanpakuto spirit, Ichigo dived into the book.

When his eyes had adjusted to the sunlight, he found that he was in a sort of forest with Zangetsu. The spirit walked on forwards, and strangely, he walked straight through all the vegetation in the area. Ichigo thoughtfully placed his hand down to the ground where there was a bird. He found that his hand went straight through the bird like he was a ghost.

He remarked, "So we're replaying memories now, and we're just observers. The people here can't hear us and they can't see us either. We're nothing, just viewers."

"_That is right. Now watch on, Ichigo._"

Feeling awkward, Ichigo looked on at his own memory from hundreds of years back. For a few minutes, nobody was in sight. Then Ichigo sniffed the air and sensed that something was burning nearby. He quickly ran towards the source, with Zangetsu following close behind.

Soon, he found a large wooden shack with two floors burning. At that moment, a young man ran up to the shack. He looked just like Ichigo, except he had black hair. Ichigo gasped, "That's…me!"

"_Indeed. He is you. Of all the members of the Royal Family, you were the one most interested in the Soul Society of Japan. You often went down there to take walks and observe the population. You would go to Seireitei and nurture talent, like you did with Urahara Kisuke, Shihoin Yoruichi and Tsukabishi Tessai._"

"Yeah, I remember that now. I always would dye my hair black so as to attract as little attention as possible. I remember that burning shack now, all this happened about 230 years back. But my memory is still slightly hazy."

"_Watch on. Soon you will remember everything._"

The past Ichigo stood outside the shack and called out, "Hey, is there anyone inside?"

He got a reply that seemed to be from a young boy. The voice shouted back, "_Help! I'm inside!_"

Ichigo promptly went inside the house, and when he found his way blocked by flames, he held up a hand and muttered, "_Hyoga Seiran!_"

A powerful, but expertly-controlled wave of ice flew from his palm, flowing like a liquid, and covered the fire. Instantly, the flames were put out and all that remained was an irregularly-shaped sheet of ice on the floor. Ichigo hurried inside, and whenever flames blocked his path, he would use the same spell to clear his way. Soon, he reached the second floor, and started sensing his way around. Luckily, the boy had some reiatsu, and he was able to sense his way to him. Soon, he found the boy inside a room. The boy looked scared, understandably, given his age and situation. His hair and eyes were brown, and he looked about six years old.

Ichigo extended a hand to him, and said, "_Come_."

It must have looked impressive for the youth. Surrounded by flames, there was a man in black with a sword by his side, extending a helping hand. Without a second thought, the boy reached out and took the man's hand. He gasped out as the scenery suddenly changed around him. He looked up and realised that the man had flash-stepped. His speed was so great that the only clue that they had moved was the change in scenery.

The boy looked up and said timidly, "Thanks sir."

"No problem. Now run along back home. I'll take care of things now."

"No sir! You mustn't go there!"

"What? Why not?"

"Just…don't."

Ichigo scrutinised the boy and wondered why he wanted nobody to go in. He said, "Alright then. You go along. I'll just put out this fire so that it doesn't spread. Is that ok?"

The boy reluctantly nodded. The present time Ichigo watched on with rapt attention. His past self, the one from the memory itself, asked the boy kindly, "What's your name?"

"Aizen, sir. I'm Aizen Sosuke."

The present time Ichigo's eyes doubled in size.

His past self smiled and said, "Nice to meet you, young Sosuke. Sorry but looks like you'll have to find another place to stay now."

"It's ok, sir. I can easily find someplace else to stay."

With that, the young Aizen thanked Ichigo for saving him, and then went off. Ichigo entered the house and used his spell to put out the fire completely. Then, he walked out of the house and, after looking around to make sure nobody was eavesdropping and that Aizen had left the place, he completely masked his reiatsu, and then walked into the house once again, wondering why Aizen had been so afraid to let him into the house.

He investigated all the rooms, but found nothing. He sat down in a chair that had survived the blaze and started thinking. After a few minutes, he raised his eyebrows and looked at a room suspiciously. He walked inside and looked around. The room was completely empty, but there was reiatsu there. He walked in, feeling around with his hands. Suddenly, his hand touched something invisible, and the moment he withdrew his palm, he saw something shimmer.

Present Ichigo muttered, "A barrier?"

His past self charged his hand with reiatsu and reached into the barrier. His hand slid in like a knife into butter, and instantly, the barrier shattered. The black-haired Ichigo and the present-day Ichigo both gasped. Under the barrier, there were many bodies. There was one man, one woman and two children. The adults both had scared expressions on their faces, while the children looked like they had been sleeping peacefully. Strangely, there were no visible wounds on either of them. Ichigo placed a hand on one of the bodies and found that there was an abnormal amount of reiatsu on them. And it was the exact same as Aizen's reiatsu.

The present Ichigo deduced, "Aizen must have killed them – probably by pumping reiatsu into their bodies, much more than they could handle. That would have killed them. Ordinarily, their bodies would have faded away into spirit particles, but the reiatsu was like a rope, binding their bodies and preventing them from disintegrating."

The past Ichigo was thinking the same thing. He then got up and walked off. Present Ichigo and Zangetsu stayed there, watching him walk off. Then, the memory cut off and Ichigo found himself back in the library.

He looked at the silent Zangetsu and said softly, "My memory of that day is returning now. After finding those bodies, I thought that Aizen must have great potential and that he had accidentally killed those four people. I thought that he couldn't control his own power."

"_And so, you decided to help him. You thought that he could change for the better by becoming a Shinigami. You decided to give him a means of controlling his own powers._"

"Yeah. I tracked down his reiatsu and found where he was living. I recommended that more Shinigami be sent to routinely patrol that area. After twenty years, when he was of a more suitable age, I secretly slipped him a letter of recommendation to the Shinigami academy, and he was accepted. And that was Aizen Sosuke."

Ichigo chuckled humourlessly and said, "The man who wants to destroy Soul Society, who twisted the lives of so many, and who betrayed those who loved him. And it's all my fault. I was the one who provided him with the means of refining his powers greatly – I was the one who gave him a chance to rise to great power, and command others. And now, he went and misused the chance I gave him."

Zangetsu looked out through the window of the library to find that it was raining heavily. He frowned, and said, "_No. That is not true, Ichigo. You were indeed the one who turned a blind eye to his sins, and opened a door for Aizen. But what he did after that was entirely of his own choices, and you are not to blame for that._"

Ichigo did nothing. Zangetsu sighed, then moved forward and did something very uncharacteristic. He grabbed Ichigo by his collar and held him up.

"_Is this all your resolve, Ichigo? You gave that man the chance to flourish all those years ago. And now you're going to be all emotional about it? This isn't like you at all!_"

Ichigo growled, "People died because of that man! Even worse, there are those who have been twisted by his actions. Tosen was a man with a strong sense of justice, but look what's happened to him because of Aizen! Look at his lieutenant, Hinamori! She ended up physically and, more importantly, emotionally hurt because of him! She'll probably never recover, and even if she does, she'll never be the same again."

Zangetsu hissed, "_And how is being sad about it going to help? You are the single most powerful fighter on the side of Soul Society, but what good is a warrior who has lost his resolve? He only gets in the way of his allies! Don't look at the past anymore, Ichigo. Look at the future! If you hadn't arrived in Soul Society, that man would still be plotting away there. Everyone would still be under an illusion, and that is much worse than the truth, however horrible the truth was. You helped everyone back then. Now you can do the same, by propelling your side to victory._"

The Zanpakuto and the Shinigami stared at each other for a few seconds. Suddenly, lightning flashed outside and thunder sounded. Everything was bright white for a few seconds, and when the light dissipated, the rain no longer fell. The sky was instead filled with dark clouds from which lightning occasionally fell.

Ichigo looked at Zangetsu, his eyes burning bright blue, and he said quietly, "Thanks, Zangetsu. You are right. This is my one opportunity to make things right once again, to fix the problems left by Aizen. If – when I defeat him, I'll make sure to show him who was the one who gave him the chances to do great evil, and who is the one who will revoke all his powers, and his claim to divinity."

"_Good, Ichigo. I have done what I can. Now go forth. I can sense something going on outside._"

Ichigo went out of his inner world and fond himself back in his room. Rukia was watching over him.

"Are you alright? You blacked out a while ago."

"I'm fine. I was communing with my Zanpakuto, just chose a bad place to do so."

"Ichigo, do you feel some strange reiatsu in town?"

"Where, specifically? And strange in what way?"

"I'm not sure…it's just a strange feeling I get when I pass by a certain house that lies on the way here from school. It manifests itself as a sort of feeling I get…and it feels to me like something in this town is trying to stifle my existence."

Ichigo looked at her, surprised at what she had felt.

"Show me this house, will you?"

They both got out of their fake bodies and flash-stepped along to the house. Ichigo was shocked when he saw what house it was.

"This is…Tatsuki's place!"

The door opened, and both reapers took a step back. In front of them was Tatsuki. Her usually spiky hair had gone floppy and her head was bowed. She walked forward with her head still facing the floor, like a zombie.

"Tatsuki! What's wrong?"

She continued walking forward, and Ichigo also moved forward towards her, with a concerned look on his face. When she was close to Ichigo, she held out her clenched fist slowly, and with her hand trembling. She then unclenched her fist and held out her hand.

All the colour left Ichigo and Rukia's faces when they saw the object in her hand.

"It's…the _Hogyoku_?"

"Impossible! How can that be here?"

The two stared in fear at the small object that had the power to change the worlds. Tatsuki then started falling towards the ground. Ichigo quickly caught her.

"There, I've got you now. Tatsuki, respond!"

He lightly slapped her cheeks, willing her to wake up. He placed his hand on her wrists and found that her heartbeat was fine.

"Rukia, take the Hogyoku with you. We're going back home!"

Rukia took the small ball off the ground hesitantly and started flash-stepping back home. Ichigo cradled Tatsuki in his arms and took her home as well. Once they were back, he placed her in the clinic attached to his home and laid her on the bed once again.

"Dad! Could you get down here? We have a patient!"

"A patient? Oh, it's Tatsuki! What happened to her?"

"Dad, listen. The Hogyoku is back. I don't know how, but it's back. And it was with Tatsuki, for some reason."

"The Hogyoku? You'd better talk to Urahara about that, then."

"Yeah, I know."

Ichigo called up Urahara. The lazy shopkeeper took a while to reply, but he did pick up the phone, and said, "Oh, it's good to hear from you again, _Denka_!"

"Shut up and listen, Kisuke! The Hogyoku is back! Somehow it landed in the hands of one of my friends! Didn't I tell you to banish it as far as you could?"

"I did, _Denka_. I made sure that it went to a certain human, who would then go to a location unknown to me. That way, none of us would ever know where the Hogyoku went."

"So what's it doing back in Karakura Town then?"

Urahara winced at the Prince's harsh tone, and replied seriously, "The Hogyoku has a mind of its own. It has the power to materialise the _hearts_ of people. So far, I've never seen it control anyone, but I think it might be possible."

"So it controlled the humans it was with, and made its way back to Karakura Town that way?"

"I think that's the most likely course of events."

"Alright then. Thanks, Kisuke. Once my friend is completely healed, I'll bring the Hogyoku over to your place."

"Understood."

Ichigo then sighed and used kido to form a small seal around the Hogyoku. When he touched the Hogyoku, a brief image of a man dressed in a red cloak came to mind, for some reason, but as soon as the Hogyoku was sealed, the image faded away. It had been too dark to see the man's face or any other details, but Ichigo was quick to dismiss the thoughts and leave the room.

Isshin did a check on Tatsuki after that, and decided that she was simply exhausted. He left her to rest. However, neither father nor son noticed that there was ice forming all around her hand…

_To be continued _

The shocking truth of Ichigo and Aizen's meeting centuries ago is revealed! Who is the man in red? What's happening to Tatsuki? What will Ichigo do with the Hogyoku? Find out next chapter!

Ooh Bleach 425 is early this week. But just like last week, I have no idea what's happening…


	10. The Hogyoku

The Dark Prince

I am glad to announce that _The Dark Prince_ has gotten past a hundred reviews! Additionally, there are 100 people with it on their favourites list, and 113 subscribers. A great big thank you to all the awesome people who trusted me to write a great story, and who stuck with the tale until now, and especially those who sent their reviews, criticism and advice! Special thanks to Ghost Writer Orange-kun for going through all the trouble to create a great OC for this story as well! Thank you, everyone, and just continue being magnificent!

So why was I away for almost a week? Because of Project Work – my first A-Level exam, in the form of an oral presentation. Here's to all the hard work put in by my fellow Singaporeans in JC1 level – the PW journey, at long last, comes to its conclusion!

What connects us all (random thought about Bleach in relation to other works): Any of you read _Pride and Prejudice_? I just thought that Byakuya is very much like Mr. Darcy – except without the redeeming factor. LOL joking, Byakuya is a fine fellow, but annoyingly subtle about it.

Chapter 10: The Hogyoku

Ichigo took the sealed Hogyoku and went with Rukia to Urahara's shop. The captain-turned-shopkeeper opened the door with an enthusiastic greeting. Ichigo simply looked at him seriously and passed him the Hogyoku.

"Back in Soul Society when Aizen left, he said that he had his own Hogyoku. What impact will that have on us?"

"Well…with the Hogyoku, he can start making Hybrids of Shinigami and Hollow. He has already started, and has a powerful army at his command – we would know, having fought them twice already. However, I sealed away the Hogyoku soon after I used it the first time so I don't have any idea of its true power. Leave it here with me, _Denka_, I'll examine it and get back to you with the results."

"Ok. Be careful with it and call us if you need any help."

Ichigo and Rukia left the place and went back home. At the clinic, Tatsuki had awakened, and was very surprised to find her arm covered in ice. She sat up in the bed and looked at her arm, which strangely felt warm rather than cold. As she surveyed it with fascination, the door opened and two people walked in: Ichigo and Rukia.

"Ichigo! What're you doing here?"

"Ummm…I live here?"

"Oh, so this is the Kurosaki Clinic then."

"Yeah. How do you feel, Tatsuki?"

"I feel fine. Why, did something happen to me? What's all this ice doing on my arm anyway?"

"Don't you remember?"

Tatsuki rubbed her head and said, "Not really…everything that happened in the past few hours is quite hazy. Give me some time. Maybe I'll remember it."

"Well, I can tell you a bit of what happened. You came out of your house, not really looking like you were in full control of yourself."

"Not in full control? What did I do?"

"You walked over to me with your head low, like some sort of…zombie or something. Then you held out your hand to me and gave me the Hogyoku before passing out."

"Hogyoku? What's that?"

"It's…nothing. Just some object."

"Related to your Shinigami work?"

Rukia was shocked that Ichigo had revealed such information to Tatsuki, and Ichigo replied, "Yeah. I'll talk about that later. Firstly, what happened over the last few hours can wait till later, since you need to regain your memory. For now, what I'm more interested in is that ice on your arm."

Tatsuki held up her arm, which was coated with ice. It was as if someone had sprayed water on her arms and frozen it, causing all the individual, miniscule droplets of water to freeze and form small bits and pieces of ice. Ichigo went forward from where he was sitting and held up her arm.

"You seem oddly comfortable for a person with a frozen arm."

"Yeah, somehow! It feels warm!"

Rukia suggested, "Maybe it's some kind of spiritual power?"

"That's the only thing I can think of."

Tatsuki inquired, "Spiritual power? You mean like Orihime, Sado and Ishida?"

"Yes, somewhat like them. But your power is quite different."

"Different how?"

Rukia took up her sketchpad and rapidly drew some figures on them. One was dressed in a girl's school uniform and had long burnt orange hair, the second was in a white suit with long tails and was holding a bow, and the third had dark skin and an abnormally large red and black arm.

Tatsuki screwed her eyes up in concentration, trying to decipher the drawings. Ichigo sighed and explained, "That's Inoue, Ishida and Sado. Inoue and Sado are humans who awakened spiritual powers somehow. For now, we think that they gained their powers because of their constant exposure to reiatsu."

"Reiatsu – that's the energy that's emitted by spiritual beings, right?"

Rukia continued, "Yeah. Inoue and Sado gained powers unique to them. Sado gained the ability to form powerful armour around his right arm. Inoue gained the ability to form a shield and to heal. She also has an offensive ability, but her unwillingness to kill limits its effectiveness."

Tatsuki chuckled, "Unwillingness to kill? That sounds very much like her."

"Ishida is different. He belongs to a group of humans who have all had the same spiritual powers and who have been fighting Hollows for many generations. These humans are called Quincy."

"Quincy? Are the Shinigami partners with them or something?"

Ichigo chuckled, "No, they were at war a long time ago. The Quincies meant well, and they still do. But their methods were fundamentally wrong, and to let them continue to kill Hollows in large numbers would have been extremely risky. The Shinigami tired to stop them, but the warmongers on both sides made it impossible to reach an agreement. And thus war broke out, and the Quincy almost died out."

Tatsuki looked at him seriously and asked quietly, "Is that how the society afterlife always works? Destroy everything you don't agree with?"

Ichigo scowled, "Sometimes, yes. But I disagree with it. Problem is, the Royal Family generally doesn't interfere with Soul Society, and for some reason, when I tried to send the government a notice asking them to refer such matters to me, it was ignored. But that's a different matter altogether. The Quincy almost died out, but I made sure that the remaining living Quincies survived, and scattered them around the world for their safety. Most of these Quincies have formed families that have survived till this day. Ishida Uryu is a member of such a family."

Rukia took up the discussion, "The Ishida family has been training as Quincy for many generations, but you're different, Tatsuki. Your powers, at a glance, seem to have something to do with ice and manipulating it."

Ichigo got up and said, "Why don't we go to Kisuke's place instead? He could help us to pinpoint Tatsuki's powers."

"Who's Kisuke? One of your friends?"

"Yeah, he is. Urahara Kisuke is a scientist and used to be…a policeman, in a way."

Later, at the shop

Tatsuki stared at a smiling Urahara in disbelief.

"You're telling me that this guy used to be a bloody _policeman_? He looks more like he ought to be arrested! No offence."

Urahara chuckled back, "None taken. He is right, though. Just like any other large society, Soul Society has its own internal security, which is called the Covert Operations Squad. I used to be one of its leaders, before going on to become the Captain of another Squad as well as the founder and President of the Research and Development Bureau"

"You were such a big-shot…and now you're a shop owner."

"Yes, I am. Now then, Ms Arisawa, _Denka_ informed me on the way that you were developing spiritual powers. Are you able to control them? If you can, could you give us a demonstration?"

"No, I can't. I don't know how to use my powers at all. If I knew what they were like, maybe I'd have more success, though."

Urahara stroked his unshaved chin and said thoughtfully, "Then maybe we need to recreate the circumstances under which your powers first manifested. What would those circumstances be?"

Tatsuki thought about it, but shook her head, unable to remember. Ichigo helpfully supplied, "I left her to rest at the clinic, after she gave me the Hogyoku. At that time, there was no ice on her arm. It started forming while she was sleeping, I think. I remember that her arm felt quite cold before the ice even started forming."

"Hmm, those circumstances are difficult to recreate. Tell you what, why don't you go and talk to Yoruichi? She's good at helping people develop their spiritual powers. In fact, she is responsible for Ms Inoue and Mr. Sado's current proficiency with their respective skills. I apologise that I'm not able to personally help you out with this, but I am quite busy with my own work on something very important."

As Urahara said this, a black cat with striking golden eyes walked in and said, "Did someone call my name?"

"Yes indeed, Yoruichi! This is Tatsuki Arisawa, a friend of his Highness, and she has awakened some spiritual powers, maybe because of the Hogyoku. Could you please go with her and see what you can make of her powers?"

"Sure. Training newly-minted ability-users has always been interesting. Follow me, girl."

Tatsuki pointed a shaky finger at the cat and snapped, "That cat just talked! How come none of you are surprised? Does this happen on a regular basis or something?"

Ichigo answered, "Yeah, it does. But something that _doesn't_ happen very regularly is fire bursting out of one's arm."

Tatsuki went "Huh?" then looked down and realised that he was talking about _her_ arm – which was on fire.

The tomboy cursed loudly and suddenly and started slapping her arm frantically, and soon, the flame was out.

"How the _hell_ did fire suddenly appear on my arm?"

Urahara replied, "Well, obviously, it's because of your spiritual powers. That's the only answer. Did you feel any pain at all when those flames were on your arms?"

"Umm…now that I think about it, there was no pain."

Yoruichi cut in, "Alright, come on, girl! We can find out more about that later on. Let's go down to the cellar and have a look at your powers and abilities. Renji and Sado are training there as well, but we shouldn't need that much space. In fact, they could even help us out."

Rukia and Tatsuki walked along after her, with the martial artist muttering, "Why the _cellar_?"

Urahara asked Ichigo, "Aren't you going down with them as well, _Denka_?"

Without looking back at him, Ichigo asked, "Maybe I'll go later to see how far they've progressed, but for now, I'd like to know more about the Hogyoku. Given everything we've observed recently, with the return of the Hogyoku, it falling into Tatsuki's hands, and eventually getting to me, I'm starting to think that someone who's neither on Aizen's nor our side is trying to manipulate events."

Urahara replied, "Yes, I have also come to a similar conclusion, _Denka_. But the answers might be closer than you think. I studied the Hogyoku for a while and came to the conclusion that it is completely different from what we think it is."

"How so?"

"Right now, most people think that the Hogyoku is an object that creates stable hybrids of Hollow and Shinigami. But it's much more than that. It materialises the _hearts_ of the people around it. When a person has a desire and the ability to carry out that desire, the Hogyoku can grant that wish. Sometimes, even we don't see what that wish is. Only our subconscious and the Hogyoku truly know."

Ichigo thought about it, and then said airily, "Well, let me see it then, I'll see if it can grant me my wish."

"Well…ok then, your Highness."

Ichigo was taken to a room and handed the small sphere. He focussed and poured some of his reiatsu in it. Urahara observed from a few metres away, and both gasped when they saw the sphere glow brightly. Ichigo's head suddenly hung, as if he had gone unconscious. Urahara gasped and moved forward to help, but stopped when he noticed that Ichigo's reiatsu seemed fine.

"_Strange…it almost feels as if he is communicating with a Zanpakuto, the way his reiatsu is so calm, and with him holding the Hogyoku in that position."_

Ichigo opened his eyes to find himself in a different place altogether. There was a golden sky with not one, but _two_ mildly bright suns, which could be safely seen with the unprotected eye. In surroundings, there were snowy mountains, and grass that was deep red, as if it had been washed with the blood of hundreds. At the base of the mountains, there was a forest, which seemed to be on fire, which strangely was completely static, and not spreading. Ichigo gasped as he saw the most prominent landmark in this beautiful landscape: a city that was small, less than half the area of Karakura Town, but with extremely high, cylindrical, elegant-looking skyscrapers with rounded tips reaching hundreds of metres into the sky. Ichigo took a few moments to admire the scenery, then noticed some reiatsu in the distance. Looking towards the direction of the source of reiatsu, he noticed someone. It was a man in a red cloak standing on a cliff a few hundred metres away, looking down on him.

Ichigo flash-stepped over to the cliff, and soon reached it. He was now standing level with the red-cloaked figure, who turned out to be an elderly man with short grey hair and a clean shaven face with not a single wrinkle on it. Ichigo scrutinised him, and asked, "I am Kurosaki Ichigo. Who are you?"

The man answered, "I am…the Hogyoku."

Ichigo was surprised at his answer, and asked, "So you're like a Zanpakuto, with your own inner world, and a spirit of your own."

The Hogyoku nodded. Ichigo's eyes narrowed, and he probed, "What is your objective? It was you who engineered your own return to the Real World, right? You used the Polar Research team to get you back from Antarctica, and then somehow ended up in the hands of Tatsuki. It was through you that she got her own powers as well, right?"

"It was through me."

"Why? What is your objective?"

The Hogyoku turned away and looked at the magnificent city. Ichigo grew slightly impatient, and was about to ask again, when the Hogyoku answered, "That is something you will find out when it is achieved."

"Are you an enemy or a friend then?"

"I am neither. You think that I might be working for your enemy Aizen Sosuke, when the truth is simply that I have yet to take my sides. I have seen hundreds of people, but none have proved themselves worthy for me to obey."

"And how does one prove themselves to you?"

The Hogyoku looked mildly interested, and asked, "You wish to try, Kurosaki Ichigo?"

"At the very least, I can find out your objectives that way."

The man in the red cloak nodded and held up a hand, simply saying, "Come with me into the city then."

The two men took off with fast flash steps and soon reached the city. Ichigo looked around and noticed that the forest he had seen earlier really was not on fire, all the trees actually had shiny metal-like leaves that reflected the golden light coming from the twin suns, giving the appearance of a massive forest fire.

"Quite the inner world you've got, Hogyoku."

"Indeed. I have existed for decades, and there was more than enough time to develop everything to my liking."

"What are your powers? Are they like a Zanpakuto's?"

"In a way, my powers are comparable to that of a Zanpakuto, but they are not the same. My power is to materialise the 'heart' of a person. What do you understand by that term, Kurosaki Ichigo? What is a 'heart' to you?"

Ichigo was not taken aback by the question. He was a 2900-year-old man, after all, and he had more than enough time to think of such things. He answered smoothly, "If a human's mind is responsible for logic and rational thought, it is the heart that is responsible for our emotions. Of course, I don't refer to the actual heart, the one in your chest, but the emotional heart."

The Hogyoku raised an eyebrow, and repeated, "_Human_?"

"When you think about it, all of us are human in mind. Some of us may have special abilities, and others may be Hollows and Shinigami, but we are all humans nonetheless."

The Hogyoku nodded thoughtfully as he continued walking into the city, followed closely by Ichigo. Soon, they reached the base of the tallest building in the city, and walked inside. There was an elevator in the lobby, and they both took it to the highest floor, which was number 300. After spending five minutes in the fast elevator, they reached the roof of the building. Ichigo looked around in surprise. The roof had seemed rounded from the outside, but now it was a flat roof. He looked questioningly at the Hogyoku, who answered, "It only _looks_ rounded."

He left it at that and beckoned for Ichigo to follow him. As he walked, he snapped his fingers, and a large image appeared before them, as if it had been cast on an invisible screen from a projector. It showed the faces of many people in rapid succession.

Ichigo asked, "Who are those people?"

"Aizen Sosuke is under the impression that my powers can only be awakened by exposing me to hundreds of people and allowing me to take their energy."

Ichigo was outraged, and demanded, "And you did so?"

"No. He was wrong."

Ichigo was only slightly mollified, and the Hogyoku explained, "I am able to grant the wishes others have. But my own desire has been left unfulfilled. I am without someone to follow. The hundreds of people I was exposed to were actually being scanned by me, to see if they were worthy of being my Master. None of them were."

"Not even Aizen?"

"Not even that man. He is among the greatest of all those whom I have appraised. But he is not worthy to take me on as his master – at least, not yet. Now…let us see, Kurosaki Ichigo, if you are worthy."

Ichigo thought to himself, "_This is all very suspicious, but if this prevents Aizen from taking full control of the Hogyoku, I must do it!_"

He nodded in agreement and the Hogyoku snapped his fingers again. This time, the air before them started spinning around rapidly like a vortex. The air suddenly solidified into a large circular screen with a dark silver edge. A bright, but very soft golden light shone out of it, and slowly but surely, the skies dimmed, making the light from the vortex brighter. The light burst out, and in golden tendrils, they reached Ichigo's eyes.

The Hogyoku looked at Ichigo grimly, and thought, "_This is your initiation, Kurosaki Ichigo. Nobody has truly proved worthy of being my master. Will you succeed where everyone else has failed?_"

Ichigo yelled out in shock a second later, and the golden light sharply left him and retreated back into the circular screen.

The Hogyoku looked at him sharply, and demanded, "Why did you let go of it? What did you see?"

Ichigo dropped to one knee, his breathing becoming shallow, and his eyes very wide. After he calmed down, he muttered, "I was the only one left. Aizen was dead, but, at the cost of…"

The Hogyoku mused, "So that was your worst fear. However, it's more specific than just _that_, isn't it?"

Ichigo's eyes narrowed.

"How would you know?"

"I have read your soul. Most of it remains unseen to me, but there was a source of great regret, and it was easy enough to read. I see the link between you and Aizen now. How very interesting."

Ichigo snapped, "It's not amusing, Hogyoku. Why did you show me my greatest fear?"

"It was to see your reaction. Nobody so far has been willing to truly take the risk of experiencing their greatest fear even if it means that they will become my master. What would people do when face with their greatest fear? Some would be frightened and try everything they can to avoid it while others would try to overcome it, believing that their goals are worth facing that fear."

"And what did Aizen do?"

"Aizen was a smart man. He never shows any weakness but he is not too proud to admit, at least to himself, that he has imperfections. He has done his best to discard these over the decades, and has given a flawless appearance to everyone, ally and enemy. Because of this mindset carefully honed over the course of his life, he has managed to face _his_ greatest fear and recognise that he can cross it. He has not fully accepted that yet, but he soon will. And that is why he is the most likely to accept my power. You, I see now, can never do that."

Ichigo stood up and faced him. He said coldly, "If gaining your power and your loyalty means the realisation of my worst fear, then it's not a power worth taking for myself. I don't know what you're going to do, but I can assure you that whatever Aizen's plans are, I'll stop every single one of them. The people here are all my responsibility."

The Hogyoku cocked an eyebrow and asked, "Even though the rest of your family have never set foot on the world and seen its people?"

"They have no obligation to do so. I chose to come down to Soul Society and to Earth, and that was a decision they supported. I kept coming back regularly and they were glad that I had found something worth doing."

"Have it your way, _Prince_. If you wish to discard a powerful card while you're in a war, it's your own loss. Goodbye, Kurosaki Ichigo!"

With those harshly-spoken words, the Hogyoku snapped his fingers for the third time. The scenery dissolved, and Ichigo found himself back in the room where he was seated. Urahara was looking at him with concern.

"_Denka_, what-"

"Just found that the Hogyoku has a mind of its own, unfortunately, and he's told me that Aizen will soon gain the ability he needs in order to become his master. He can materialise the desires of someone, and he will probably do that for Aizen."

Urahara paled considerably, and asked, "Is he unstoppable now?"

"He said that he had seen the souls of hundreds of people, and not one was worthy, in his opinion, to become his master. Neither was I."

Ichigo's voice became hard, and he muttered, "But that doesn't matter. For now, my opinion of the matter is that his powers are not something I can, or want, to get. There may be a war on, and we do need all we can possibly get in order to win. But this is a power I am not going to take."

Urahara said seriously, "If that is what you think, then I'll go along with your wishes, _Denka_."

Before any of them could speak any further, a heavy reiatsu suddenly appeared. Ichigo and Urahara narrowed their eyes and spread their senses out. There were four arrancars in the park.

"I'll go ahead, Kisuke. You go downstairs to the cellar and tell Tatsuki to stay put. She may have developed powers now, but they're untested in combat and she may not be able to fight properly. She is to stay right here, got that?"

"Yes, your Highness!"

Ichigo burst out of the shop in his spirit form while Urahara went down to the basement to hand down the orders to Tatsuki.

Elsewhere in town 

A very sullen, one-armed Grimmjow flash-stepped away by himself, as soon as he stepped out of the Garganta with Luppi, Yammy and Wonderweiss. Yammy was angry that the blue-haired Arrancar, now no longer an Espada, had taken that action on his own, but he soon forgot all about it as he looked down and saw Toshiro and the others waiting for him, swords at the ready.

"Heh, looks like our enemies are already waiting for us!"

He drew his sword hastily as the young Captain jumped up suddenly and struck at him, with his limiter removed.

"Captain of the Tenth Squad, Hitsugaya Toshiro!"

"Oh that's a coincidence! I'm a Number Ten too! _Arrancar Diez_, Yammy Llargo!"

"_Diez_? You're an Espada?"

"Looks like you're in the know! Whoever you fought must have had a big mouth!"

The taunts flew on both sides and continued for a while as they fought. Luppi fought Rangiku, Ikkaku and Yumichika for a while, and getting bored, decided to release his Zanpakuto. But just before he could do so, a voice called out clearly, "_Hado #63: Raikoho!_"

A bright yellow column of flames struck Luppi, who was standing some distance away from the Shinigami. The arrancar narrowly dodged, and faced his attacker – a man with bright orange hair.

A few miles away 

Grimmjow continued flash-stepping through the town. Then, suddenly, he felt a familiar, heavy reiatsu, and stopped short. He jumped away just in time to avoid a blast of bright red spiritual energy that came his way from below. As he stepped back, standing in the sky, and then gasped as he saw his attacker. It was Murayama Katsurou, standing before him looking serious, and slightly sorrowful. Grimmjow swallowed his fear, remembering the last time he had fought Katsurou, and said gruffly, "Well, here you are at last, Shinigami!"

"Indeed. I see Aizen punished you. Was it for losing?"

"Shut up!"

Grimmjow threw himself at Katsurou, who easily blocked his slash.

"Are you still going to fight me with just one arm?"

"I only need one arm to beat you! Last time, you just got lucky!"

Katsurou sighed, and released his Zanpakuto. As he released, he said, "I am truly sorry about last time. I lost my mind for a short while, and I showed such brutality. But then again, the fact that you're a Hollow makes it easier on the conscience. Your power indicates that you were a Menos-class Hollow. Within your being, you contain hundreds of souls. By killing you, I could grant all those souls the afterlife they deserve."

Grimmjow's eyes narrowed, and Katsurou finished, "Maybe it's heartless. Maybe it's cold. But all that doesn't matter right now. The souls within you are crying out, and in your death, I will grant them redemption."

Grimmjow's eyes widened considerably. An image of a wolf inexplicably ran through his mind. Katsurou placed a hand over his face, and his eyes started glowing a bright golden colour…

_To be continued_

And so, Ichigo experiences a painful initiation, and rejects the Hogyoku's great power. But what happens next? Stay tuned to find out! And to keep yourselves entertained (Is it really entertaining? If you want something else to keep you amused until the next chapter, a review or a PM are all you need), guess what I based the appearance of the Hogyoku's inner world off!

**IMPORTANT NOTICE**: Want to write a new story and wow the readers, but have no idea what kind of story to write? Let me help you then! On my profile, there is a section titled "Other Story Ideas", and this section contains a small list of _five_ story ideas that came to mind, but I don't wish to use them in my stories (I have my reasons, and those reasons are listed in that section itself). Instead, I am offering those ideas for other writers to use for their own stories, somewhat like a request. So if one of those ideas appeals to you, and you wish to use it to write your own story, feel free to do so! Just remember to send me a personal message about it first, because I wouldn't want to miss the story you write! This notice was already posted on one of the chapters of _Kurosaki Ichigo, Master of Time and Space_, but I decided to post it up here as well as _The Dark Prince _has a larger audience.


	11. Sekibetsu

The Dark Prince

Hello everyone, before we begin, there are some important notices, so please read them first, especially the first one.

**Notice: **It's been a while since I've updated, and that's because I'm on holiday. I've been sightseeing almost non-stop for the past few days, waking up at ungodly hours to take the bus to the next destination, and on top of that, I've got no internet connection. However, from the 1st of December onwards, I'll have more time to type, and perhaps I'll have a good internet connection as well, so I'll be able to update then. I'm really sorry but I can't do anything about it. Hopefully I'll still be able to follow a pace of at least a chapter or two every week.

**Recommendation:** On a separate note, I've been reading really old stories (published around 2008) and I came across, or rather, rediscovered _Reincarnation_ by Allen the Musician, and I have to say these older stories really prove correct the saying 'Old is Gold'. Falconrukichi, I saw your picture of Ichigo and Rukia with their adopted son Toshiro and I have to say it was a great piece! I already read _Reincarnation_ and its companion pieces like _Carry On_, but that was a long time ago, and I was unable to truly appreciate them at that time. Seeing stories today, it's very hard to find stories about _friendship_ between characters; most stories have romance pairings instead, and while many of them are good, one does get tired of reading romance all the time…anyway, that was just my own recommendation and congratulations. On to the chapter!

Translations will be at the end of the chapter.

Chapter 11: Sekibetsu

Luppi narrowly dodged a horizontal column of yellow flames, and turned behind in surprise to face his attacker.

"Who the hell are you?"

Yammy looked up and grunted in surprise, recognising the man. The massive Espada yelled up to Luppi, "It's that Kurosaki brat! Ulquiorra and I fought him when we last came to this town!"

Luppi narrowed his eyes, and still looking at Ichigo, he replied, "Oh, so he's the weakling that Ulquiorra refused to kill, then. I'll take care of him! Then he can watch as I cut his friends to shreds right before him, one by o-"

Before he could finish, a large cut appeared on his shoulder, and Ichigo, who had been standing a few metres in front of him just then, was now behind him. Luppi gasped loudly and coughed up blood. Breathing heavily, he demanded, "Y-You! What did you do?"

Ichigo responded by simply fixing him with a cold glare.

"None of the Shinigami are going to die today. I won't let any of them.

Luppi sneered, "Oh really? I got the report, and it looks like Ulquiorra's report about you being weak was wrong. I hate to say this but the former Mr. Six turned out to be right – We are dealing with formidable foes. But you guys are still no match for me!"

"Former Mr. Six?"

"The former Sixth Espada – Grimmjow."

Ichigo replied flippantly, "Oh, him. You sure you should have left him to his own devices? Katsurou could rip him to shreds if there's nobody to stop him…" as he remembered something Katsurou had told him a few days back.

_Flashback start__s (Ichigo's point of view)_

_Shortly after the fight with Grimmjow, Ichigo quickly started guiding Toshiro and Rangiku to their victory against Shawlong Kufang and Nakeem Grindina. Once the battle was over and the healing of the wounded began, Ichigo took Katsurou aside for a serious talk. _

"_Ok, Katsurou, what was all that about?" _

"_I'm sorry, I don't get what you're saying, your Highness." _

_Ichigo sighed, "You went berserk back there! You seemed out of your mind when fighting that arrancar, Grimmjow. Your eyes were all blank, and you were moving as though on autopilot. You released your bankai, and started completely owning him!" _

_Katsurou blinked in surprise, then sighed and explained, "Oh, that. I'm sorry, your Highness, I just lost control for a while back there." _

"_Lost control? Look, tell me exactly what happened!" _

_Katsurou looked hesitant, then took a deep breath and said, "I have this condition that causes me to get flashes of my past as a human. Whenever that happens, my mind becomes a blank, and I become a crazed killer, your Highness." _

_Ichigo looked at him, concerned, and remarked, "That time, you seemed really bloodthirsty. Be more careful, or you'll end up hurting our friends and allies too. Are you sure you don't need to go back to recuperate?" _

_Katsurou replied forcefully, "No, your Highness. It is my duty to fight at your side. Abandoning my post now is unacceptable!" _

_Ichigo sighed, beat, and said, "Fine, do as you wish. But just make sure you don't lose your mind again, will you? Especially since such episodes could be easily used by your _Gran Salvador _to manipulate you."_

_Katsurou's reply betrayed no emotion. _

"_Understood, your Highness." _

_Flashback ends _

Still uneasy over his friend's condition, Ichigo pushed these worries out of his head and focussed on the fight. Luppi charged forward and traded blows with him for a short while.

After a while, Luppi smiled and said confidently, "This is boring! Maybe I'll just release now and put an end to this farce! _Strangle, Trepadora_!"

Everyone shielded their eyes as a great deal of spiritual energy and smoke came from Luppi's body. When it cleared, there was a large bone-like attachment on his back, shaped strangely like a backpack. From this came several thick, extremely long tentacles. Luppi smirked at the shocked looks on the Shinigami, and sneered, "Well come on then, Shinigami! Let's make it five-on-one, shall we?"

Across town

_Flashback starts (Katsurou's point of view)_

_Katsurou's soul phone rang, and he quickly fished it out of his pocket. _

"_Hello?" _

"_Katsurou, this is Isane speaking! How are you?"_

"_Isane! It's great to hear from you, dear. I'm doing well here in the World of the Living. It's a great place, you should come here for a holiday sometime!" _

_Isane noticed the edge to his voice, however, and asked him in a half-exasperated, half-concerned voice, "Something just happened, didn't it? Something really bad?" _

_Katsurou was silent for a few seconds. Then he said softly, "Yeah. I had one of those episodes yet again. There's this enemy we faced, he said something, then I blanked out. When I recovered, I found that I had done quite a bit of damage. I had gone into bankai, not even in control of myself. By the time the fight was over, the enemy was half-dead. And this particular enemy was no ordinary Hollow. He was a member of the Espada – the sixth strongest one."_

_Isane took a sharp breath. Katsurou had really gone berserk, it seemed. She quickly said, "You know what this is all about, don't you, Katsurou?" _

"_Yeah, I'm aware. They're flashes of my life as a human."_

"_Yes, they are, and in order for you to completely recover from this condition, you must look into your past, sooner or later." _

"_I'd love to do that, Isane. But I don't have the time for it. We're at war, and looking into the past at a time like this is no good. I have to get stronger to protect what I love. Isn't that so, Isane?" _

_Isane smiled and replied, "Yes it is. You're right, there really isn't time. But you really should make an effort to find out, after the war is over. Anyway, what about your other power? What about _Gran Salvador_?" _

"_Oh. It's under control, Isane. I've been using the techniques Captain Unohana taught me, and they're useful. I can go all out in a fight now without any consequences." _

"_I'm glad to hear that. It sounds as if everything's fine on your end." _

"_Yeah, that's true! So how are you then? Working hard in Soul Society, preparing the Fourth Division for the upcoming war and casualties?" _

"_Yeah, it's hard work, but we can afford to take breaks. Most rank-and-file Shinigami won't actually be fighting in the war. Only the Captains and Vice Captains as well as a few seated officers will be at the front line. We've already taken many Shinigami from other squads who had basic first aid and healing training and are preparing them to help us out as well. But they'll be sent back to their original squads once the battles are over." _

"_I see. Anything new?" _

"_Nothing, Katsurou. Listen, my break is ending, I'll have to go and resume work now." _

"_Oh, alright then. I'll talk to you later, sweetheart." _

"_Take care, Katsurou!" _

_Flashback ends_

Grimmjow was at a complete loss for words. Standing before him was Murayama Katsurou, with a pure white mask on his face. The mask was clearly lupine, with a short snout that had sharp teeth protruding from it.

"W-what the hell are you? What's that mask? Why is it so hollow-like?"

Katsurou replied in a harsh, grating, metallic voice, which sounded as if several people were speaking at the same time.

"Is this the first time you came across one such as me? I am no ordinary Shinigami. I am a man who has crossed the boundaries of Shinigami abilities and acquired Hollow powers. I am like you, in many ways."

"Like me? Screw that, you're nothing like me! You may have a mask now but that doesn't mean you can beat me! Last time was a lucky shot, and this time I won't let you live!"

However, as soon as those words left his mouth, the arrancar gasped and jumped away. A horizontal column of blue spiritual energy moved past him. The column was so powerful that it started distorting the space it moved through. A single hit from the column would have severely wounded Grimmjow.

As Grimmjow looked at the space in shock and curiosity, and Katsurou explained, "That was the 89th Hado: _Hiryugekizokushintenraiho_, cast without the incantation. With the incantation it would be a lot more powerful, although I dislike using such a spell since it causes so much damage."

Grimmjow steeled himself, thinking, "_That column of energy...it was as powerful as the Gran Rey Cero of an Espada! He's easily on par with one of the Espada above me! But still, I won't run from this. I'll kill him and shred his corpse to bits for damaging my pride the last time!_"

Grimmjow grinned and licked his lips.

"If that's how strong you really are, I sure as hell am gonna enjoy this fight!"

He then moved closer with his flash steps and slashed out hard. The air offered no resistance as the blade moved, poised to tear flesh. But Katsurou was fiendishly fast, and moved away before anything could happen. He was now standing 100 metres in the sky, while Grimmjow was on top of one of the houses down below. The arrancar smiled again and jumped up for another attack. This time, Katsurou's blade met his own, and sparks flew as the two blades repeatedly struck. Grimmjow grinned madly as he repeatedly lashed out at his adversary.

Looking at all the damage around town, Katsurou commented offhandedly, "Earlier I said I disliked using high level spells because of the collateral damage they cause. But it seems you've already taken care of that."

"Oh, have I? You haven't seen half the damage I can do! Especially if I release! And what the hell can you do anyway? You've gotten more powerful with that mask, but other than that, it seems to simply be for show!"

Katsurou simply smirked at the challenge, then jumped up to a higher level. From there, he held out his palm and pointed it towards the former Espada. The blue-haired man looked up curiously and asked, "What, another spell?"

"No, this is different. It should be very familiar to you, Arrancar."

Grimmjow narrowed his eyes doubtfully, and then he gasped loudly. A pure black ball of spiritual energy, outlined in silver, was gathering at Katsurou's palm.

Spiritual energy from the surroundings flew towards the ball, like iron filings attracted to a magnet, and after a few seconds, the energy in the ball reached dangerous compression levels*. At that point, it released.

A great deal of black energy flew out from the palm in a straight beam, right towards Grimmjow. The arrancar's eyes widened considerably.

Right as they fought on overhead, they were being watched by a certain someone on the ground. Inoue Orihime looked on in awe and fear as Katsurou's cero engulfed Grimmjow. She thought of raising her reiatsu and catching his attention, but then decided against it, knowing that it was a breach of the rules she had to abide by.

_Flashback starts (Inoue's point of view)_

_Urahara Kisuke watched on while Abarai Renji and Sado Yasutora's powerful attacks collided, laying waste to the desert-like landscape of his secret training cellar. He turned around, feeling the spiritual pressure of Shihoin Yoruichi and Inoue Orihime behind him. He steeled himself for what he was about to say, while giving the enthusiastic-as-usual greeting to the two women who had just come in. _

_Inoue returned the greeting cheerfully, then asked what he had called her here for. Yoruichi remained quiet, knowing what he was about to say. With his voice serious, yet retaining the polite and flattering tone, he said, "Miss Inoue...I have a request to make. It pains me to ask this of you, but I have to ask anyway."_

_Inoue's smile faltered and she asked in a more serious tone, "Why, what is it, Mr Urahara?" _

"_I would like you to refrain from fighting in this war." _

_Inoue's eyes widened considerably. Even Sado turned around in surprise, and Renji followed suit, taking the hint that his sparring partner wished to pause their fight to listen to this. _

"_But why, Mr Urahara?" _

_Urahara answered, his voice becoming hard, "This is necessary for everyone, Miss Inoue. You may argue that you _can_ fight with your offensive power, Tsubaki. But how are you going to use him effectively? You have little experience fighting, you don't have the same willingness to kill or wound as your friends. Don't worry about it though. Many Shinigami have this same problem, and you're just a sixteen year old human. Killing should not be expected of you." _

_Sado intervened, "Then what of me? What of Ichigo and Ishida? We are of the same age too!"_

"_You are different, Mr Sado. You have fought before, and from what you have told us of your life, it is easy to see that you will be able to fight well in a war. You still need much training, but the basics are there – both logical battle skills and the more instinctual. You have had a violent past which made you a natural fighter. Later, the important life lessons given to you by your grandfather refined your abilities – you are the result of the combination of these factors, Mr Sado. You are now able to do violence to your enemies, all for a noble cause: protecting your friends. Mr Ishida meanwhile, has had similar training all his life. His training was very structured, and I have no worries regarding him for the future. As for your other friend, I suppose you have already heard of his history. I hate to say this but the Kurosaki Ichigo you knew is not fully existent. Some of the traits he had as a human passed on to him when his memories returned. But there are a whole lot of other traits he already possessed, and fighting is one of them. He is easily the strongest man in this entire town, and a more-than-worthy warrior to lead the war on the front-lines." _

_Sado nodded in understanding, then argued, "I don't like it, but I can understand why you want Inoue away from the front lines. But still, I think it is a very unwise idea to completely send her away. Her healing skills are excellent, and we need to keep her close by. Even if she doesn't fight like the rest of us, she deserves to be close by. She's our friend, and we shouldn't leave her behind!" _

"_She is indeed a phenomenal healer, easily up to the level of the highest ranking officers of the Fourth Division. However, the Fourth Division members have more experience, and a wider variety of medicines and techniques. Furthermore, they are all combat-trained, and are able to fend for themselves. Furthermore, Miss Inoue is a special case. I really wouldn't want her near the Front Lines at all." _

_Sado sighed, "There is a lot you're not telling us, Mr Urahara. I trust you, and have great respect for you. But how can you continue to keep information from us?" _

_Urahara turned away and said softly, "You wouldn't need to trust me at all if I told you all I know, if I could ever do so. Honestly, Mr Sado, you should feel glad that you don't know half the things that I know." _

_Sado was surprised by his answer, but let it slide. Training and the war was more important, in his opinion, and he concentrated on it. Inoue walked out after sadly agreeing to Urahara's request. She had earlier been informed of what had happened to Tatsuki, and decided to visit her friend. Now that Tatsuki knew everything there was to know about spirits, she could talk openly to her. She went up the ladder, and walked to the room where Tatsuki was being kept. She stepped inside with an enthusiastic greeting._

"_Good afternoon, Tatsuki!"_

_But she was greeted with a frightening scene. Her friend was unconscious, and was being held up by her neck. The person holding her was a man with deathly pale skin, striking green eyes, with green lines on his face running from below his eyes to his jawline. He was dressed in white clothes and had a strange bone on his head that resembled a half-helmet. There was also a hollow hole on his neck._

_Inoue gasped, "Who are you?"_

"_Inoue Orihime. Do not speak, and do not raise your reiatsu to attract attention. If you do not agree to my conditions, I shall take the life of your friend here. If you still do not agree, I will go out and personally exterminate the other Shinigami in this town."_

"_W-What are your conditions then?"_

_The green-eyed Arrancar spoke tonelessly, "You are to come with me to Las Noches, our base. Lord Aizen desires your power, woman. Your friend will be taken with you as well. You will be a prisoner, but you will eventually become one of us."_

_Inoue considered her options. She could raise her reiatsu to attract Urahara's attention, but the arrancar would be able to sense it, and would take action quickly. She deliberated, but at that moment, help came. _

"_Well, isn't this brazen of you, arrancar, coming straight into our base?" _

_Inoue turned around and exclaimed, "Miss Yoruichi!"_

_Urahara was with her too, and while looking coldly at the arrancar, he said to Inoue, "This is why I wanted you to stay behind, Miss Inoue. I wanted to ensure that you wouldn't be taken away like this. Up till now, you thought that your powers were healing, but they are not. Your powers allow you to reject reality itself. If that power was to fall into Aizen's hands..."_

_He broke off. The arrancar nodded and said, "As expected of you, Urahara Kisuke. Lord Aizen has spoken highly of your intellect." _

"_Oh has he now? That's nice of him. Now, arrancar, I suggest you let go of Miss Arisawa there."_

"_I think not, Urahara Kisuke."_

_In a single instant, Ulquiorra made his move. He fired a bala towards the side, and when Urahara and Yoruichi instinctively moved aside, he flash-stepped over to them and pressed something on their skins. Some black beams of energy criss-crossed all around the two former captains, and when they dissipated, they were nowhere to be found. Inoue looked around desperately and then turned to Ulquiorra. _

"_What did you do to them?" _

"_It is called _Caja Negacion_. They have been placed in a pocket dimension that is completely inaccessible. But with their power levels, they can break out in a few hours. Now I have some instructions for you. Your friend will be taken to Las Noches and kept there now. You, however, will be given a period of 24 hours before you are taken to our base. In that time, you are to wear a special bracelet that allows you to be seen only by us Arrancar..."_

_Flashback ends _

Ulquiorra had given Orihime the special bracelet, and she had gone out into town. She had been firmly instructed not to contact anyone or alert them to her presence.

Katsurou's cero soon dissipated, and Grimmjow could be seen, hurtling down towards the ground. He soon hit the road, creating a large crater. He struggled to get up on his feet, as Katsurou floated down to the ground.

The Knight looked carefully at the arrancar and said thoughtfully, "I see. You avoided some of the damage by firing your own cero at mine. It was barely powerful enough, but it saved your life. But even so, nothing you do now will save your life, Arrancar."

Grimmjow's eyes narrowed, and he yelled defiantly, "Damn you Shinigami! I won't die!"

Katsurou coldly readied his blade. But then, he looked up sharply, feeling the reiatsu change. He stepped back just in time to avoid being enclosed in a bright yellow beam of light in which Grimmjow was kneeling. Grimmjow looked around him in surprise, then sneered, "We'll meet again, Shinigami!"

Katsurou looked on, recognising the yellow beam as _Negacion_. He watched on, and was about to leave, when someone yelled out, "Katsurou! Hey, Katsurou!"

He turned around in surprise to see a shockingly familiar face: a man with bowl cut blond hair, and a large upper jaw. He was dressed in an orange shirt with a black tie and grey trousers, and a grey trenchcoat. Katsurou took one look at him and gasped.

Elsewhere

Ichigo now had his Shikai released and was facing off against Luppi. The latter was laughing, repeatedly using his long reach and eight tentacles to harass the other Shinigami as well. Toshiro was busy, occupied with Yammy, and was using his bankai, without much avail, at the Espada.

Luppi shouted gleefully, "What's this, Shinigami? Is eight on one too much for you?"

Ichigo had been holding back up till then. But suddenly, he felt Inoue's reiatsu disappear. Surprised, he decided to end the fight quickly. As Luppi continued hitting around with his large tentacles, aiming for Ichigo this time, the Prince immediately grabbed the tentacle mid-swipe and stopped it with one hand. Luppi looked shocked by this. Instantly, Ichigo concentrated his spiritual energy and said softly, "_Hado #33: Sokatsui!_"

Luppi looked on, and then started screaming out in pain. Yammy looked on in surprise, and jumped back, shouting, "What the hell's going on, Luppi?"

He gasped in shock when he saw that one of Luppi's massive tentacles had been completely burned off. Without wasting another second, while Luppi was still in pain, Ichigo moved closer and shouted, "_Getsuga Tensho!_"

The blue crescent immediately flew towards the arrancar, but before it could hit its target, a bright beam of yellow light surrounded Luppi. The Getsuga Tensho rebounded harmlessly off the light. Luppi sealed his Zanpakuto and looked at Ichigo hatefully.

He sneered, "You'll pay for this humiliation, Shinigami! Next time, I'll waste no time taking your head off!"

Ichigo quickly flash-stepped off. Soon, he reached the Urahara Shop. At the same time, Katsurou reached there.

"Katsurou, what happened?"

"Your Highness, the reiatsu of Miss Inoue has disappeared!"

"Yeah, I felt it earlier."

"I also felt someone using pocket dimensions in this area. High level hollows have a technique where they place another hollow in a separate dimension to either punish them, or to rescue them. That technique was recently used here."

"Oh, that's the one they call _Negacion_, right?"

"Yes, your highness. Another thing: I just saw a very familiar face recently!"

They continued discussing this matter as they walked into the shop. Katsurou cast around his senses and felt for the pocket dimension. Soon he found it, summoned his mask, and ripped the air with his fingers. Instantly, a small gap opened up in the air, much like a garganta, and out stepped Urahara and Yoruichi.

"Kisuke! Yoruichi! What happened to you too?"

"Good to see you again, your Highness, Katsurou. We were stuck in a pocket dimension."

Katsurou said patiently, "Yes, we can see that. But how?"

Yoruichi slapped the back of Urahara's head for his frivolous behaviour and said seriously, "An arrancar invaded the shop, and kidnapped Inoue and her friend Tatsuki. It was the same arrancar that we saw in the park a few days ago. I think Aizen wants her power, and that must be why he had her kidnapped."

Ichigo turned pale, and his eyes widened. Then he quickly calmed down and asked, "Ok, we've already realised that her power is to reject reality itself. She can reverse all the actions performed on a body, particularly injuries. Knowing that, we can guess that she can also cause objects to return to their original states. If an egg were to fall on a hard surface and break, she could make it whole again. She could completely counter entropy, if you want to see it that way. So what could Aizen want her to repair? Who would he want to heal?"

Urahara answered, "I have no idea, your Highness. Perhaps this means that his army is getting injured faster than their healers can cope? I know for a fact that Hollows have extremely limited healing abilities. That is why they evolved Instantaneous Regeneration. As far as we know there are no Shinigami in Aizen's army other than Aizen, Tosen and Ichimaru. Maybe he wants to force her to use her powers to heal many of his soldiers in a short time. Perhaps he wants to fully restore the powers of ageing warriors who are well beyond their prime. I imagine he'll have quite a few such old warriors, since he has clearly been dealing with Hollows for a long time now."

"Either way, with Inoue's powers, we're at a disadvantage. We also can't let the two girls be prisoners there. I'm all for mounting a rescue mission."

Urahara smiled, "I thought you would say that, your Highness. But before you go, I have something else to say. Earlier, you mentioned that the Hogyoku has his own inner world, and he has his own interests. You also mentioned, most importantly, that he knows about Aizen's attitudes towards his powers. Now the question is: How did the Hogyoku know of such a thing? _Denka_, you spoke with the Hogyoku that we have here in Karakura Town, while Aizen has a different Hogyoku in Hueco Mundo. So how is _our_ Hogyoku able to know so much about Aizen?"

Katsurou clicked his fingers and exclaimed, "The two Hogyoku are somehow connected! Who knows, they might be exactly the same being! Aizen has probably been seeing the same spirit _Denka_ has seen. It's like Captain Kyoraku's Zanpakuto: One spirit, that inhabits two blades. Even if the blades are kept far from each other, the same spirit can be accessed through each blade!"

Yoruichi contributed, "So that means that doing something drastic to one will affect the other! We could combine all our powers here, and manage to do damage to Aizen's Hogyoku!"

She turned to Ichigo, but the Prince and his Knight were already walking towards the cellar.

"Kisuke, bring the Hogyoku down now, will you? We're going to...do something drastic to it."

Kisuke let out a breath, impressed, and went off to get the Hogyoku. Something dangerously impressive was going to happen, and he wasn't going to miss it for anything.

_To be continued_

Translations

Sekibetsu – Parting regrets (It's also the name of an instrumental used for the Darker than BLACK Soundtrack, composed by Yoko Kanno)

*An explanation was never provided by Tite Kubo for Cero, well, at least no explanation was provided that will satisfy people like me. So for this story, I assumed that ceros are formed by compressing spiritual energy into a ball, with your own spiritual energy as well as energy collected from the surroundings, then when the energy is packed _very_ tightly, it is released towards the enemy. Of course, one can't really compress energy according to the laws of Physics (well, as far as I know), but Bleach sort of has a record for accomplishing the impossible, so I guess it's acceptable.

Go look at my profile! I've updated it and added my personal list of rules for writing FanFiction. I added that list so that people reading my stories for the first time have a rough idea of what to expect.

Sigh...nobody bothered to guess what I based the inner world of the Hogyoku on...Perhaps I should stop these little guessing games. The Hogyoku's inner world was based off Gallifrey, from Doctor Who. Just go to Google images and type 'Gallifrey' and you can see a picture of the landscape and city in the inner world.


	12. Into the Desert

The Dark Prince

This chapter is going to be slightly Ichigo-lite, and will give more screen time to Katsurou, Ishida and Sado (the latter two definitely need more screen time in this story). Ichigo will be more prominent in the first section of this chapter, and in the coming chapters.

I hope you guys catch the reference to Code Geass in this chapter!

Chapter 12: Into the Desert

It was with mixed feelings that Urahara Kisuke walked into his special storeroom to retrieve the Hogyoku. He had figured out that the Hogyoku in their possession was somehow connected to Aizen's Hogyoku, and that damaging one was going to cause damage to the other as well. And therefore, Ichigo and Katsurou, easily the strongest Shinigami in the town, had taken it upon themselves to get rid of the tiny, but powerful object once and for all.

Urahara was a practical man, and while he did have a strong attachment to the many items he had personally created, he knew when things had to go. Still that didn't mean he had to be happy at the prospect of seeing the Hogyoku destroyed. Steeling himself, he brought the Hogyoku to his underground training room, and found that Ichigo was wearing his black bankai coat and holding Tensa Zangetsu. Katsurou was stretching. Urahara placed the small sphere in the middle of the training ground.

"Will this do, _Denka_?"

Ichigo replied, "That's fine. I'd advise you to get out of the training hall, Kisuke. There'll be a lot of spiritual energy flying about."

Urahara snorted, "Get out, and miss out on all the action? I think not."

Ichigo smirked back, "Have it your way."

Katsurou commented, "I already asked Kisuke before about his efforts to destroy the Hogyoku during his exile, and I think maybe we should try what we just about perfected a century ago."

"I think so too."

Before continuing, Ichigo walked over to the Hogyoku and placed two fingers on it. Within seconds, he had established a mental link with the Hogyoku. He heard the elderly man's voice say neutrally, "_I see you have come to destroy me._"

"Indeed we have. We know now that you're connected to Aizen's Hogyoku. Destroying you will remove a major obstacle in our path."

"_Go ahead and try, _Prince_! Let me see how far you are willing to go to win a war!_"

Glaring darkly, Ichigo cut the connection and moved away from the Hogyoku. Katsurou stood a few metres away from him and placed a hand over his face. Black spiritual energy with a silver outline gathered at his face, and formed itself into his wolf's head mask. Once the mask fully formed on his face, he started forming a Cero again – although this one was different from the Cero he had fired at Grimmjow earlier. This Cero formed at the snout of his mask instead, and emitted a lot more spiritual energy, despite looking the same, with black and silver spiritual energy.

At the same time, Ichigo held up his blade in an offensive position, and poured spiritual energy into it, making the energy swirl and dance around the blade like black and red flames. He looked coldly at the Hogyoku in the centre of the room, and said, "Behold, Hogyoku, this is the technique Katsurou and I have been practising for a long time before my death more than a hundred years ago. If you are going to acknowledge Aizen as your master, we have no choice but to destroy you."

With that, he and Katsurou attacked.

"Getsuga Tensho!"

"Cero Negacion!"

When the individual attacks flew out at the Hogyoku, the two men yelled in unison, "_Mayonaka Taiyo!_"

Urahara winced at the reiatsu given off, but stayed put. The two attacks had collided, with spectacular effects. The black Hollow reiatsu from the Cero mixed in with Ichigo's Shinigami reiatsu, and produced a pitch black Getsuga Tensho that had two trailing 'tails' of spiritual energy. One was red, and the other was silver. This potent mix, expertly held together with Ichigo's total control over spiritual energy and spirit particles, moved through the training hall, and it eventually hit the Hogyoku. The two men kept pouring their energy into their attacks, and soon, the room was saturated with reiatsu. Urahara hastily put up a barrier to shield himself from the energy flying around.

As he poured his considerable energy into the attack, and exercised tremendous willpower over the spirit particles, Ichigo suddenly heard a voice within his head. Tensa Zangetsu spoke to him, saying, "_This is not enough, Ichigo, and you know it._"

"I can still do it, Tensa Zangetsu!"

The youthful spirit within his soul snapped, "_But you can't! Don't you see it, Ichigo? Urahara Kisuke has been trying these methods of destroying the Hogyoku for over a century now. You have yet to _fully _recover your strength after your awakening. Even if you have Katsurou by your side, you cannot destroy the Hogyoku. I can now see that brute force will get you nowhere._"

Ichigo continued the attack, not wanting to believe his Zanpakuto's words, but still not able to dismiss them completely. At the same time, within Katsurou's soul, there was a sense of unrest among the spirits. His Zanpakuto Haka, a bone-thin, gloomy spirit said in a low, gravelly voice, "_This is not enough, Katsurou._"

Another voice cackled, "_**Let me take over! Maybe I could win this for you!**_"

Katsurou mentally told the second voice, that of his inner Hollow, to stay silent, and addressed Haka, "How is this not enough? This is our strongest attack. If we continue, we can at least crack it!"

"_No, Katsurou. It is impossible. But there is a way in which you could possibly destroy the Hogyoku._"

"What is it?", Katsurou eagerly asked.

"_You have known Prince Ichigo for a long time, and in the same way, I have known Zangetsu for a long time too. We Zanpakuto normally do not tell our masters the secrets of other Zanpakuto, but I believe Zangetsu will let me tell you this: Kurosaki Ichigo has a final ace up his sleeve, but it is risky. At best, he will end up losing all his powers. At worst, his soul will disintegrate into many fragments._"

Katsurou's enthusiasmdied down instantly, and he gasped when Ichigo suddenly stopped pouring his energy into the attack, and ordered him to do so as well.

The Prince announced, "Everyone please stand back. Something just occurred to me, and I'm going to try it."

Katsurou realised that this was what Haka had been talking about, and said sharply, "Your Highness, I think I know what this is about, and I have to ask you to reconsider!"

"No, Katsurou. I have to do this. If I use my Final Getsuga Tensho, I could destroy the Hogyoku, and remove a major obstacle. You can finish this all without my help. Katsurou, you can call the other Zero Squad members if you need assistance. All of you combined should be able to defeat Aizen easily, since he doesn't have the Hogyoku with him."

Katsurou replied strongly, "With all due respect, your Highness, that is utterly wrong! We need you to help us! Besides, how can you just do something that will end up in your powers or your life being taken away? We don't need to do this, why can't we just leave the Hogyoku? Aizen won't actually grow in strength that much because of this!"

Ichigo smiled ruefully and replied, "We can't be sure of that. Besides, there is no victory without sacrifice. Don't worry. I'm not going to die. Even if I lose my powers, it is not permanent. I can regain them after a while. That is the cycle followed by Zanpakuto like mine. It'll definitely take a while, perhaps more than 20 years, but it'll happen eventually."

Unable to come up with a reply, Katsurou hesitantly stepped backwards, realising that he would have to trust the Prince's abilities here. He went over to Urahara and helped strengthen the barrier. Ichigo held out his sword and focussed. A gentle breeze began blowing through the area, and the short chain at the end of Tensa Zangetsu lengthened considerably. The chain wrapped itself around Ichigo's arm, and the Prince's reiatsu completely disappeared. At that point, the chain, constricted tightly around Ichigo's arm, and then disintegrated into black spiritual particles. The blade itself disappeared, and Ichigo's hair became pitch black and lengthened considerably. His bankai coat disappeared, and his torso was covered in bluish-black bandages. Resolutely facing the Hogyoku, Ichigo said in a deadly voice, "_Mugetsu._"

The very air turned black all around, and one single concentrated attack was focussed on the single black ball

Elsewhere in town

Sado Yasutora was sitting by himself in a café, sipping a cup of coffee. At that point, he heard someone say his name, and he looked behind him to find Ishida Uryu walking up to him.

"Hey, Ishida. You seem happy."

"I am! I just regained my Quincy powers recently, after losing them in my fight against that madman back in Soul Society."

"That's good for you, Ishida. I also finished my training with Renji, and I've unlocked more power from my armoured arm."

"It looks like we've both made good progress then, huh?"

"Indeed we have."

After a few minutes of companionable silence, Ishida said, "Sado...honestly, what do you think of Kurosaki now?"

"Ichigo...has gotten more distant. One cannot deny that. But still, I understand his situation well. In just one night, almost 3000 years of personal history suddenly opened up to him. One can expect that the sixteen years he has lived as a human being on earth suddenly become insignificant."

Ishida nodded, "You're right. Even I'm beginning to rethink my views now. I used to hate Shinigami, but it seems that the Quincy still exist today because of them, specifically because of his efforts. Even if all Shinigami were bad, he's an exception, it seems. But even so, I don't approve of him distancing himself from the rest of us. We've hardly seen each other as a group since Soul Society. Besides, I don't know what to make of his other friend, Murayama Katsurou."

"Neither do I. I haven't talked to him much, and I can't tell what kind of guy he is. But Ichigo trusts him implicitly, so that gives me reason to trust him too. We made a pact a long time ago, that we would fight for each other's sakes, and I would still fight for him. He was the one who indirectly led to my gaining my powers too, and I am grateful to him for that."

Ishida nodded in understanding. Just then, the two young men heard the tell-tale swishing sound of flash-steps, and looked in the direction of the noise to find the Goddess of Flash herself. Yoruichi said grimly, "I'm glad I found the two of you together here. I have some urgent news to tell you both."

When she had said what she had wanted to say to the two of them, Ishida and Sado appeared shocked.

"Inoue has been kidnapped?"

"Tatsuki too? Was it Aizen?"

Yoruichi nodded seriously, and asked, "So what will you do now?"

Ishida replied resolutely, "Does it need saying? We'll go to Hueco Mundo and take the two of them back!", and Sado gave a grunt of approval.

Yoruichi smiled, "I doubt Soul Society will approve, but if _Denka_ talks to the Captain Commander, we should be able to go through with Soul Society's approval. Come to the Urahara Shop in an hours' time. Kisuke will get the portal to Hueco Mundo open."

She then left, and Ishida looked at Sado doubtfully.

"I wonder if Kurosaki will actually agree to this. He'll think differently because of his true age, and he might not even consider rescuing Inoue and Tatsuki."

Sado replied, "Let's have patience, Ishida. I'm sure Ichigo will step in.", although his voice had the slightest bit of doubt in it.

At that moment

In a certain inner world, there was black lightning falling from the sky. Many of the buildings in the great city had now been reduced to rubble, and from a nearby cliff, a lone figure in red robes watched on in shock and awe.

The Hogyoku surveyed the destruction happening to his inner world and muttered to himself, "_So this is the extent of your power, Kurosaki Ichigo...No, this is not just spiritual energy, it is his resolve too. I see now – you face losing your power, perhaps your life itself. And yet, you give your all towards defeating me! I have never seen such drive, not even in Aizen, the man with an impossible goal!_"

With the rest of his strength, he mentally reached out to Ichigo's mind.

In the training Hall

Katsurou watched on nervously as the darkness surrounded Ichigo and the Hogyoku. Then suddenly, the dense black cloud of reiatsu started dispersing, and soon, Ichigo could be seen. His hair had turned orange once again, and he appeared to be unconscious.

Katsurou and Urahara took down their barrier and hurried towards the prince. Urahara did a quick check, and said, "His reiatsu is dangerously low, but it's starting to rise! There is something, quite possibly an external agent that is stabilising his reiatsu. It appears to be coming from his chest."

Katsurou looked up to Ichigo's chest, and when he and Urahara saw what was on his chest, they gasped in surprise.

Urahara started, "Well...this changes things greatly."

"This is indeed different from the intended outcome. What do you think though, Kisuke? Is this good or bad?"

"That depends. We might see the consequences of this in the near future, Mr Murayama. I will take care of him for the time being, and with the rate of his energy being replenished, I think the Prince will be fine, but he might not be able to fight for a while now."

Katsurou thought for a while, then said, "I think that is fine. With this, we might just be able to win the war. But before that, we have something important to do."

Urahara smiled, "Indeed, you do. Shall I open the Garganta for you then?"

Hueco Mundo

A large bird-like Hollow swooped down on a snake Hollow that was slithering hastily in the white sand. The snake looked behind and tried to spit poison at the bird, but missed. The bird screeched out victoriously, and reached out with its sharp talons to kill the snake, but before it could do so, it was swept aside by a powerful wind caused by reiatsu. Within seconds, the two Hollows were completely destroyed by the crushing reiatsu. All around the area, hollows were dying, crushed by the dense reiatsu that surrounded the area.

Some of the stronger Hollows came closer to see the source of reiatsu. It was a lone man, dressed in a Shinigami's robe. He had long black hair and blazing blue eyes. As he went, he spoke in a powerful voice that carried through the desert.

"_I am Murayama Katsurou, former Captain of the Third Division of the Gotei-13, and a proud servant of the Royal Family! I come in the name of my Prince Kurosaki Ichigo, and I will not stop until his will is carried out! So come, Hollows! Come, Arrancar! I can hear your tormented souls crying out, and I will grant you your salvation in death!_"

After a while, the number of Hollows in the desert became very little, and Katsurou let down his reiatsu as he walked towards the massive structure of Las Noches.

He had barely walked five minutes when he felt a small bit of reiatsu coming from a nearby spot. He looked around, and was surprised to find a strange group crouched down on the sand. Three of them appeared to be humanoid, while the fourth was clearly a hollow – a large worm-like Hollow, to be specific. One of the three humanoids was very small, the size of a human child, the second was of average size, and the third was big, and quite taller-than-average.

Katsurou approached them cautiously, yet curiously, and was about to ask them a question when the big humanoid one muttered, "That was a huge blast of reiatsu, don'tcha know?"

"Nel was so scared!"

This second voice had a clear lisp to it, and Katsurou listened on, bemused.

The last one said, "At least it's passed for now. It should be safe to go out soon."

At this point, Katsurou blurted out, "Excuse me, but just who are you?"

The strange trio comically howled out in shock and fright and jumped back, the biggest one falling over. Katsurou was now able to get a good look at them. The small one was dressed in a simple grey robe, and appeared to be a child with green hair. The average sized one was dressed in a purple vest and a loincloth, and had purple skin as well. His face looked like a beetle's. The last one had a very big head with a comical mask. He appeared to be wearing some sort of yellow-with-black-polka-dots jumpsuit, and had very large hands and feet.

The small one pointed a accusing, but very shaky finger at Katsurou and demanded, "W-w-who are you?"

"I am Murayama Katsurou, little one. Who are you, and what are you doing in Hueco Mundo? This is no place for a child!"

The child answered, "Nel's not a child! Nel's an arrancar! See my awesome mask fragment!", and lowered her hood to show her head, on which there was indeed a mask fragment.

Katsurou winced. He had clearly run into a group of Hollows, and clearly not the usual type. The child was clearly defenceless, but for some reason, the other three Hollows had not killed her. In fact, now he remembered that the purple Hollow had actually stood between her and him when he revealed his presence, as if protecting the child from the stranger. He asked, "Who are you guys, and what are you doing here?"

There was a round of introductions, and Katsurou learned that the child was called Nel Tu, the purple Hollow was called Pesche Guatiche, and the yellow one was called Dondochakka. They had even named the large worm hollow Bawa-Bawa, and they called it their pet. They were apparently hiding.

"Hiding from what, exactly? Do you by any chance happen to be working for Aizen?"

Nel said in an almost dismissive manner, "Oh, none of us work for Lord Aizen. He only takes the really powerful hollows, and makes them into arrancar. The ten strongest arrancar are called the Espada, and the rest are called Numeros. Comparing Nel and her buddies with the Numeros is like comparing dirt with stars! Anyway, who are you? You look like a Shinigami, with those clothes..."

She suddenly broke off, and with a lot of seat pouring down her face, the very nervous-looking child asked, "What is your occupation?"

"I'm a Shinigami."

The reaction was instantaneous. The three Hollows ran around crying out that he was a Shinigami.

"He's...He's a bad guy!"

Katsurou frowned. Perhaps telling a highly-strung group of Hollows that he was a Shinigami was a bad idea after all. Clearly, this was a dysfunctional group, but it didn't present any immediate threat. However, as his senses told him, there was something else that _did_ present an imminent threat. He looked up and found that a large lion-like Hollow was coming. It seemed to be of a low-level, but it frightened the wits out of Nel's small group. The three strange Hollows screamed out in fright and started running around in circles, crying out that they were going to die. Katsurou looked back and said sharply, "Calm down!"

He drew his sword and executed a fast flash-step. The next second, the lion screeched out and disintegrated in a shower of blood. Katsurou sheathed his sword and moved off, starting to go towards the giant white castle in the distance. He had barely walked a few metres when a voice called out, "You're just going to leave?"

He looked behind and saw that it was Nel. His gaze softened, and he said, "Yeah. I'm here on a mission. There are people I must rescue, and there are some others I mist defeat. The walls of Las Noches will soon bear witness to a bloodbath, and I would rather a child be kept out of it, even if that child is an arrancar."

Nel struggled to come up with a reply, and after a long pause, cried, "Let us come with you! We could get you to Hueco Mundo quickly!"

Before the Knight could protest, he was carried up and placed on Bawa-Bawa. The massive worm started moving off quickly, and Katsurou, while unhappy that the Hollows had practically forced him into this, had to admit that he was moving much faster now, without expending any energy either. He turned to the three Hollows and asked, "Tell me about Las Noches."

The three pulled thoughtful expressions and scratched their chin/head, and came up with answers.

"It's big!"

"It's far away!"

"It's white!"

Katsurou face-palmed, then said, "More specific things! Like the layout of the building, where the Espada stay, or even better, where Aizen stays!"

"Ah, we'd love to tell you, but we can't just say such things to a bad guy!"

The Knight sighed. Clearly he was not getting any answers out of this group. Then at that moment, he felt the reiatsu of many Hollows around. The sources of reiatsu were all in the sky. Looking up, Katsurou and the Hollows were shocked to find many Hollows that resembled various birds of prey. One of them swooped low, and Katsurou struck out with his blade, but the Hollow flew off before the blade connected. This same thing happened for a few more seconds. Katsurou then sheathed his sword, muttering, "Looks like I'll have to use kido here..."

But before he could do it, one of the birds fell out of the sky with a screech. Looking closely, he noticed that it had been struck down by a blue bolt of light. Within seconds, dozens more bolts of blue spiritual energy flew out towards the sky and struck the Hollows. At the same time, a more powerful, but slower beam of blue light flew into the sky and hit several birds. Soon, all the bird-hollows were completely gone. Katsurou looked warily behind him, and was surprised to see two humans – one clad in white clothes and wearing a pentacle on a bracelet around his wrist, and the other was wearing a black shirt with a large Rose stitched on it, and white trousers.

"You're...Ishida Uryu and Sado Yasutora!"

Ishida pushed up his glasses and nodded in Katsurou's direction.

"Mr Murayama."

Katsurou smiled, "Good to see you both! Please call me Katsurou."

"Well, we can't possibly leave our friends behind here now, can we?"

Katsurou agreed, "Certainly not. I'm sorry, I should have waited for you."

"Don't worry. At least we managed to meet up here."

Ishida looked questioningly at the four strange Hollows behind Katsurou, and the Knight quickly introduced them. Soon, they were all on Bawa-Bawa's back, moving off towards Las Noches.

Ishida asked, "What happened to Kurosaki? I thought he had already gone on ahead with you,shocked deeply by the end of his explanation but he was still recuperating at the Urahara Shop when we left. Mr Urahara asked us to go on ahead."

"Yes. We had tried to destroy the Hogyoku, but something unexpected happened..."

Katsurou recounted what had happened to Ichigo, and the two humans were awestruck at the end of his narration.

The trip continued, with the three discussing plans for after they broke into Las Noches. Soon, the massive domed castle seemed closer than a kilometre away. Just as Ishida pointed this out, happy that they were closer to rescuing Inoue and Tatsuki,a loud roar was heard.

"_Who Dares To Trespass On Lord Aizen's Territory?_"

As the group looked around, on high alert, the sands began to move, and a massive amount of sand lifted itself off the ground, and formed a truly massive humanoid shape. It was a great Hollow made of sand, with a white mask on its head and a Hollow Hole in its chest.

"_I Am Lunuganga – The Guardian Of Las Noches! You Shall Not Pass, Interlopers!_"

Without blinking, Katsurou fired a kido spell at it. At the same time, Ishida fired several arrows at it, and Sado fired a blast of energy at it. The effect was spectacular. Lunuganga's head was quickly destroyed by the blasts. However, as the three warriors prepared to continue their journey to Las Noches, the voice sounded again, "_Fools! Your Attacks Have No Effect On Me! I Am Invincible!_"

Ishida remarked, "Funny how everyone who says that gets beaten up soon afterwards.", and fired more arrows. But, soon, he was no longer laughing, as Lunuganga's control over the sand in the area was proving very troublesome. Soon, they were almost buried in sand. But, just at that moment...

"_The Second Dance: Hakuren!_"

Instantly, ice was all over Lunuganga. The great Hollow let out a grunt of surprise before its mouth too was frozen. Follow-up attacks were not late in coming.

"_Getsuga Tensho!_"

"_Howl, Zabimaru!_"

Katsurou, Ishida and Sado looked on in shock as a blue crescent of spiritual energy and a segmented, extendible blade struck the ice hard, shattering it.

A familiar voice drawled, "Miss me?"

_To be continued_

Cero Negacion – 'Negating Zero' in Spanish. This is Katsurou's strongest Cero

Mayonaka Taiyo – Midnight sun. This is the name of Ichigo and Katsurou's technique that they were practising for a while before Ichigo's death. It is a fusion of Cero Negacion and Ichigo's black Getsuga Tensho. Ghost Writer Orange-kun devised this, along with the rest of Katsurou's techniques.

Mugetsu – 'Moonless Sky'

The Code Geass reference in this chapter: When Katsurou entered Hueco Mundo, his entry was supposed to mirror Lelouch vi Britannia's entry into Kaminejima where he confronted his father for the second time, in Code Geass r2.


	13. Jailbreak

The Dark Prince

Note: All the fights (except for two) in this chapter go exactly the same as in the manga, so they will not be described in detail. There will be more story content, and more screen time for those who haven't had it recently (Ichigo, Inoue and Tatsuki).

Chapter 13: Jailbreak

Half-an-hour before Katsurou left for Hueco Mundo

In the medical room of the Urahara Shop, a pair of eyes snapped open, revealing warm brown irises. Ichigo got up slowly, as everything that had happened in the past few hours registered clearly in his mind. He placed a hand on his chest and looked down with mixed emotions at the small black ball embedded in his chest.

_Flashback starts_

_The Hogyoku, with the last of his strength, reached out to Ichigo's mind, and even as he was bombarded with spirit particles that were of a higher dimension that he was, he pulled Ichigo into his inner world, speeding up time inside._

_Ichigo looked at the elderly man, who was panting, and asked coldly, "Why have you brought me here? To beg for your life?"_

_The Hogyoku stood up and glared at him, and said with as much dignity as he could muster, "No, I have changed my mind. Earlier, when you faced your greatest fear...what did you see?"_

"_I saw my family, my friends, new and old...everyone I ever loved dying because of this war. It may be an irrational fear, but it's present within my mind anyway."_

"_Precisely! Aizen was close to discarding every remnant of fear within his mind. But I see now that you are different. Instead of throwing them away, you acknowledge your own fears. And on top of that, you have shown now that you are capable of fighting whatever threatens to make your worst fear true. Not just that, you are willing to sacrifice yourself so that the ones who follow in your footsteps can continue the battle you fought, and emerge victorious."_

"_That is right, Hogyoku. It is foolish and excessively prideful to do everything by oneself. That is why one must trust in others, and involve them as a team."_

"_And that is what sets you apart from Aizen Sosuke. He goes it alone, confident that his own power will be sufficient. He has an army at his command, but he doesn't trust any of them. In the end, he will probably be the only one still surviving, and he won't even care. That is why I have decided to choose you instead, Kurosaki Ichigo. Unlike any of the others I have met with, you alone approached me like a King, like a true leader and warrior. What say you? Will you accept this offer of partnership now? Will you take my power and make it yours?"_

_Ichigo looked at his extended hand, then held up his own hand and said, "Very well. I accept your contract. With your powers, with the strength of Zangetsu and all my allies, we shall win this war!"_

_Flashback ends_

Ichigo smiled slightly, glad that he did not regret his decision. Once he had stopped using Mugetsu, the Hogyoku had started repairing the damage done to his spirit body. Urahara had only to give him some sleeping pills, and the Hogyoku had taken care of the rest. He considered going back to sleep, but then remembered something that Katsurou had told him when they had arrived in the Urahara shop after the last invasion of the Espada. He quickly got out of bed and put on a cream coloured shirt with a navy blue suit and a knitted tie, then hurried out of the shop.

After walking for some time, following some reiatsu that was being emitted from a certain source, he found the source: a large warehouse that had been sealed off by a powerful barrier. Ichigo approached carefully and placed a hand on the barrier, causing the spirit particles on it to ripple outwards. When he pushed forward with his hand, the barrier moved inwards too, almost like a balloon. Deciding that breaking the barrier would be viewed as a hostile move, he knocked on the barrier a few times and waited.

In a few seconds, what appeared to be a green and white ball came out of the door. Ichigo looked closely and was surprised to find that the 'ball' was actually a teenage-looking girl's head. She had vivid green hair and and looked curiously at him. She then went back inside and Ichigo heard some yelling, first in a high-pitched girl's voice, and then in a low-pitched, rough voice. And then a third voice sounded, and the other two kept silent after that. A small rectangular opening, almost like a door, opened up right in front of Ichigo, and the girl came out of the warehouse. Raising his eyebrows at her strange style of clothing, which was a white bodysuit, Ichigo stepped inside tentatively. The girl chirped, "Come in! Shinji said to let you in!"

"Er...right."

Ichigo walked into the warehouse, and a light was trained on him. There were several floors within the warehouse, and on each floor, there were a few men and women dressed in human clothes. The one that immediately caught Ichigo's attention was a man dressed in an orange shirt with black trousers, a black tie and a beret. He had bowl cut blonde hair, a large jaw, and looked to be in his mid-twenties, although Ichigo knew that he was much older. He cracked a smile and acknowledged, "Hirako Shinji."

The Vizard smiled back and greeted, "Good to see you again, Ichigo. How have you been for the past century?"

"_I never told them I was a Prince. I always just pretended to be a noble with Shinigami skills who never actually joined the Gotei-13._", reflected Ichigo, who lied, "Same old life, back in Soul Society. I heard that you had been killed for possessing illegal Hollow powers, but I learned the truth recently from my friend Katsurou."

Shinji replied, "I see. Katsurou once sought us out, quite a while ago, and showed us that he had, by himself, sorted out his own inner Hollow – a remarkable feat, indeed."

Ichigo chuckled, "Yeah, that is really good. His desire to protect others is great, and to that end, he gained his power, and the resolve to master it."

Then, Rose asked, "Sorry, but who exactly are you? And how do you know Katsurou?"

"I am Kurosaki Ichigo, and I'm loosely affiliated with Soul Society. Katsurou is a friend of mine."

Kensei growled, "You're from Soul Society? Shinji, why is he here?"

Love intervened, "Don't worry, I know him. He's not like the other Shinigami. Kisuke always spoke highly of him."

"And so did Master Tessai", said Hachigen.

"Hello, Love, Hachigen. How are you?"

"Holding up fine...well, at least as fine as one can with that brat Hiyori around."

The blonde woman with a sharp tooth protruding out of her mouth threw a sandal at him (he dodged) and shouted, "Don't call me a brat, baldy! And who the hell are you anyway? We don't take too kindly to Shinigami!"

Ichigo held up his hands in a peaceful gesture and said, "Like I said, I'm only loosely related to Soul Society. I never was a formal member of the Gotei-13. I'm certainly not going to report you to the Shinigami."

Hiyori snorted and looked away. Shinji and Ichigo continued chatting for a while, catching up, and then, Ichigo asked a question directed at the Vizards in general.

"I said earlier that I'm not closely affiliated with Soul Society, but I'm still going to fight against Aizen in the war. Now, what about you guys?"

Shinji said seriously, "We're in the same situation here, Ichigo. We are on our own, no longer members of the Gotei-13, but we still consider Aizen our enemy for what he did to us a hundred years ago. We will definitely fight, and we will be the ones to take his head. The Gotei-13 still has little idea of what we've become, and Aizen also most likely doesn't know much about our abilities. We have an advantage here."

Ichigo nodded in understanding and said, "Well then, I'll take my leave here. There's some place I've got to be now. I'll see you guys next time."

The others bade him goodbye and Ichigo hurried back to the Urahara Shop. He threw on a black coat and went downstairs. Rukia and Renji were in the secret cellar, with the Garganta open.

"Ichigo! You're late!", snapped Renji.

"Yeah, sorry. Had to go meet some people. So Kisuke told you guys huh? Katsurou has already gone on ahead, our path should be clear. You guys ready?"

"Yeah, we're ready."

"Then let's go!"

The three reapers jumped up and into the dark space between dimensions. They formed pathways for themselves with spirit particles, and after walking for some time, they stepped into Hueco Mundo.

Rukia looked around and said, "This is Hueco Mundo? I can see why Hollows like earth so much!"

Ichigo stared at the moon and remarked, "Feels nostalgic, this place."

"You've been here before?", asked Renji, who had already been informed by Rukia and the others of Ichigo's status (but still treated him like a friend rather than as a big-shot nobleman).

"A long time ago. There was a situation here, and Katsurou and I came along to resolve it. Met a few interesting faces along the way."

They walked along, and seeing the complete mess around them, Rukia commented, "What's with all the dead hollows around?"

"Like I said, Katsurou already cleared our path for us. His reiatsu is all around, this is definitely his work."

They continued moving forward quickly, and feeling some reiatsu up ahead, they paused.

"What the hell is that?"

"A massive Hollow, made of sand?"

Ichigo grimaced, "Oh, that one. There are quite a few Hollows around that form their bodies out of sand. They are difficult to defeat because their bodies are almost fluid. Regeneration is as natural as breathing to them. But they have two weaknesses. The one over there is the guardian of Las Noches, and has held that position for 150 years now. His name is Lunuganga."

"And what are those?"

"Firstly, heat. If one can hit them with sufficient heat applied over a fraction of a second, the sand will become glass-like, and then they can be defeated easily. But that sort of power requires an atomic bomb. Their other weakness is actually water. Water holds the sand particles together and greatly lessens their regenerative abilities. Right now, I can see Katsurou, Ishida and Sado fighting it. None of them have any water-based abilities. They'll tire out after a while, and then"

Rukia drew her sword.

"If water is its weakness, then we can defeat it easily with my abilities. _Dance, Sode no Shirayuki!_"

She then proceeded to use her second dance to freeze Lunuganga solid. Ichigo and Renji then wasted no time destroying the massive ice statue.

Ichigo approached the surprised trio on the sand before them and drawled, "Miss me?"

Katsurou opened his mouth to say something, then closed it, and smiled, shaking his head.

"Timely arrival, _Denka_, Rukia, Renji."

Ishida pushed up his glasses and snapped, "We were beginning to think you wouldn't turn up, Kurosaki"

"Nope, my mind was set on getting Inoue and Tatsuki out of their Aizen's grip the minute I realised that they had been kidnapped. I had some stuff to do though. But we're here now, we can go on and rescue Inoue and Tatsuki. By the way, who are these guys?"

Nel and her group started shivering, saying, "More Shinigami! More bad guys!"

Chuckling, Katsurou said, "The small one's called Nel, this one's called Dondochakka, and this is Pesche. They're an unusual group of Hollows who decided to help me get to Las Noches quickly."

"I see. Nice to meet you. Could we get going to Las Noches now then?"

Everyone was in agreement, and they got on Bawa-Bawa's back.

Meanwhile

Inoue sighed sadly as she looked at the wall of their prison. She had just felt the strong reiatsu of Katsurou, and some time later, the reiatsu of her other friends came as well. She had been glad that they had come, but now, doubt crept into her mind. She kept thinking if she was worth risking life and limb for. Then, she heard a slight groan behind her, and turned around sharply. Tatsuki had been placed in the same room as her. Both were now allies of Aizen, as Inoue had planned to make herself useful by learning as much about Aizen as she could.

The black-haired girl came to at last, and sat up in her bed.

"Orihime? What's going on?"

Inoue smiled ruefully at her and told her the truth. Tatsuki instantly paled, and said, "So we're prisoners now?"

"Well...technically we're expected to work for Aizen now. He wants me to use my ability to restore his Hogyoku. It degenerates every time he uses it to create a new arrancar, but with my reality-rejection abilities, I can indefinitely extend its lifespan."

Tatsuki snapped, "What? Why are you working for our enemy?"

Inoue looked distressed, and she said, "They threatened you, Tatsuki!"

Tatsuki was speechless for a moment, before she said softly, "Look, I appreciate you looking out for me like that while I as unconscious, but this is a war, Orihime! We have to be strong. We can't just cave in to our enemy's demands all the time."

She was about to continue, but then she broke off, then started walking around the room and looking around, looking behind shelves, under the bed and within the lampshade. She then turned to Inoue and said in a low voice, "I was looking for hidden microphones and cameras, just like in the spy films. There are none, though. They made a mistake keeping us together without any supervision. Now we can plan our escape, since none of the others can come to help us!"

Inoue replied in a similarly low voice, "Actually, they have come. They're somewhere out there in Hueco Mundo."

"Well...that doesn't matter! Let's get to them before they get to us! Now, what exactly is your power? Mr Urahara didn't give me all the details. I'm not even sure what's my own power."

"My power is reality rejection. In a small area, I can reject events, like injuries and damage. I also have an offensive power, but it's quite limited. And finally, I've got a shield."

Tatsuki remarked, "That's pretty useful. Very well-rounded, really. I've got to test out my own abilities first though. Once I figure them out, we can try something with them."

Remembering the ice on her arm, Tatsuki went over to the tank of drinking water, opened the top and let her hand inside it. She then focussed, but nothing happened.

"Ichigo and Rukia told me earlier that people like us have spiritual energy which we use to fuel our abilities. But how does one control spiritual energy though?"

Orihime smiled. Slightly more cheerful now, she said, "You've got to imagine the power flowing into your own arms, legs, or whatever body part you use to launch your attacks. It's easier said than done though. It would be better if there was a name for each of your attacks."

"Nope, I don't need a name."

Tatsuki focussed again, and imagined power flowing from her arms into the water tank. Still not successful, she decided to try something different, and tried imagining the energy flowing upwards instead.

Inoue said excitedly, "Look, something's happening!"

Tatsuki looked down and found that the water surrounding her hand had frozen.

"Well done, Tatsuki! Looks as if your power involves ice."

"No, that's not it. I remember back in Karakura Town, there was some fire involved. I was shocked at something, and suddenly fire burst out of my arm! But strangely, it didn't hurt me at all, even when I repeatedly slapped it to put it out. I know! Tell me something that makes me mad!"

Inoue thought for a while, then said, "Ichigo called me fat!"

Tatsuki growled and held up a fist, which suddenly burst into flames. This time, she held it up, and examined it. It didn't burn at all. She tried willing the flames to move, and they did! She then stuck the hand in water, and while the fire went out, the water started boiling. She could feel the energy flowing outwards this time. She continued pumping out energy until she got tired, and then she started absorbing it by imagining the energy flowing up her arm instead. After a few minutes of experimenting, she said, "I think I figured it out! I can absorb energy to make things freeze, and I can use that same energy to make things burn as well! Now...how does that help us?"

Inoue was, at that point, examining the wall carefully. She then looked at the bars of the window in the wall, and said, "Well, I've got an idea...my power involves rejecting reality, and this building can't be all that old. Perhaps I can undo everything that has happened to this building and in the end erase its existence altogether?"

Tatsuki grinned and said, "Ok, you do that. I'll try doing something to that door over there to prevent anyone from getting in easily."

As Inoue tried 'rejecting' the wall, Tatsuki went over to the door and pressed an ear to it. There was absolutely no noise outside. She looked at the door, scanning for weak spots, and then had an idea. She placed one hand on the floor and another on one of the door hinges and started transferring thermal energy quickly.

Outside Las Noches

Ichigo asked, "So Nel, how did you become an arrancar? Were you naturally formed?"

Before Nel could answer, Pesche quickly said, "That's right! We found her in this state, and she said that she was always like that. Then we decided to adopt her because she was too cute to resist!"

Nel giggled and scratched the back of her head.

"Is that so? I've never seen a child arrancar before though."

Then, addressing the group at large, he remarked, "Nel actually reminds me of an old friend of mine. I met her a long time ago, when I came to Hueco Mundo for a mission. She was a Vasto Lorde, and her name was Nelliel tu Odelschwank."

"You were friends with a Vasto Lorde?"

"Well, not exactly a friend, I just saw her that one time, but we got on very well."

Ishida looked at him in disbelief and asked, "And how exactly does one reason with a Hollow?"

"Most people just assume that hollows are completely unreasonable. That's not the case. It's true that most Hollows are beings of instinct, but some rise above it, or at least try to do so. Nelliel was a Vasto Lorde we met, and she didn't attack on sight. Instead, she actually greeted us, and tried to make conversation."

Katsurou smiled, "Yeah, she was completely different compared to the other Hollows. She had a great drive for true intelligence, despite her instinctual nature."

"Yeah. We spent some time with her before leaving Hueco Mundo. Nel here reminds me of her, in a way. It must be the reiatsu."

The others were quite wide-eyed with disbelief now.

"Well...that's unusual for a Hollow."

"Indeed."

They continued moving, and once they were reasonably close to the castle, Ichigo took out some ink from a bottle kept in his pocket and drew some symbols on his arm as well as a circle on the ground that was divided into quarters.

"_Bakudo #58: Kakushitsuijaku!_"

The circle started glowing, and Ichigo was instantly able to locate everyone inside.

"Ok, I can see that Aizen is in what looks to be the centre of this castle, and there are various arrancar of varying spiritual power scattered all around. Inoue and Tatsuki are within the castle and there are several Arrancar between us."

With that, he, Katsurou and Renji smashed open the wall and the group stepped inside. They stepped into a deserted pathway and walked inwards. After a few minutes of walking, they came to a hallway with several doors.

Ishida asked, "So what do we do now? We're stronger as a group, but then we would be slower."

Rukia spoke up, "We should split up. We'd be faster that way, and we can quickly get to Arisawa and Inoue."

Katsurou concurred, "She's right. Even if we were to go as a group, would we actually allow others to join in a fight? I don't think some of us would. It's counterproductive if we were to go as a group."

Ichigo looked at the doors and nodded.

"Ok, let's split up. Each person is to take one door. Rukia, you come with me. We'll split up further down this passageway."

"Got it!"

Everyone went down a different pathway as per the discussion. Nel and her friends looked around uncertainly, and then, Nel said, "We've got to follow them!"

She immediately ran after Katsurou, leaving behind a stunned Pesche and Dondochakka.

Dondochakka turned to Pesche and asked, "What do we do? Nel might be in trouble, don'tcha know?"

His purple-skinned companion replied in an uncharacteristically low-pitched voice, "Yes, I know, Dondochakka! But let's leave things as they are for now. Those guys seem nice enough. I don't think they'll hurt any of us. As long as we don't get in their way, they'll just rescue their friend and leave us be. They're in their enemy's territory, they can't exactly afford to stay behind and finish off weaklings like us. Besides," He looked seriously at Dondochakka and asked, "Do you think either of us would refuse Mistress Nel?"

"No. Of course not.", came the resolute reply, and then, the two Arrancar ran off to different doors and hurried off inside.

Further Inside

As they walked briskly down a corridor, keeping their reiatsu low, Rukia asked, "Ichigo, earlier you said you knew Nel...what exactly were you doing in Hueco Mundo at that time though?"

"I was actually here investigating something. It was about 150 years ago, and an old Vasto Lorde called Barragan Luisenbarn had managed to take control of a massive army of powerful Hollows. The Shinigami considered killing him, but Katsurou and I came back to find out what was going on, and then we decided to leave things as they were. Most of the higher-level Hollows in Hueco Mundo obeyed him, and he had no interest in sending Hollows to regularly attack the real world, and neither did his minions. If he remained in charge of a large Hollow army but did not threaten the real world, I thought that he could keep other Hollows in line. We let him be."

"You left a Hollow that powerful live?"

"Not all Hollows must absolutely be killed."

They continued in silence for a while, they felt reiatsu flare elsewhere in the castle at several positions.

"That's Sado! And Ishida! They must have encountered enemies."

"Indeed they must have. I think Katsurou is also heading towards a powerful enemy...And so are we."

Just as he finished that line, an arrancar with striking green eyes appeared in a burst of Hollow flash-steps and confronted them.

Elsewhere

Katsurou stepped out of a door and blinked in surprise to find sunlight.

"Sunlight within the castle? That's quite something."

He was walking on a large bridge. There were many multi-coloured pillars all around. Sensing some activity downstairs, he jumped off the bridge and walked along the sandy ground. Then, sensing some reiatsu coming up to him fast, he ducked. Just in time too, as a massive weapon flew just above his head and slammed into one of the leaning pillars, destroying its base and causing it to fall.

Someone said in a high-pitched sneer, "Looking for me, Shinigami?"

Katsurou looked behind, unsurprised to see an adversary behind him. The Arrancar was powerful, and had long black hair and a grin that revealed his upper jaw, just like Shinji.

"Hello there, Arrancar. I'm Murayama Katsurou. Who are you?"

"I'm Nnoitra Jiruga. You look like a strong one!"

"Yeah, I am."

"Come on and fight me then! See if you can cut my skin! I've got the toughest skin among all the Espada!"

Katsurou smiled, "Is that so? Well I've got something special too. My Haka can cut through anything. Metal, rock, reiatsu-coated surfaces, you name it, I'll cut it!"

"Looks like we're evenly matched then! Come, Shinigami!"

Katsurou drew his sword and obliged.

On Ichigo's side

Ulquiorra expressionlessly eyed Ichigo.

"So you have come to rescue your friends, Kurosaki Ichigo. What a meaningless enterprise."

"What's meaningless about coming to the aid of an important friend?"

"You will never escape alive."  
"Oh I think we will."

"Then I shall stop you here."

Ichigo promptly drew his sword and blocked Ulquiorra's strike.

"I've seen better. Sorry Arrancar, but you're not exactly the best adversary I've faced."

Ulquiorra paid no heed to that comment and continued slashing with his sealed sword. Ichigo jumped backwards and ordered, "Rukia, go ahead and find Inoue and Tatsuki, then come back here!"

"Got it!"

Ulquiorra moved to stop her, and Ichigo smiled.

"_Bakudo #61: Rikujokoro!_"

Ulquiorra had been momentarily distracted by Rukia, and so fell to Ichigo's spell. If he could gasp, he would have done so. Even Aizen had said that this man's reiatsu was probably too unstable for kido of this level. The spell was not strong enough to indefinitely hold him, but it surprised him all the same. Ulquiorra broke out of his prison of light, and tried to step back, but Ichigo was faster, and succeeded in cutting him. Ulquiorra's eyes and mouth widened, and he stood still, putting a finger on the cut on his chest.

Ichigo looked at him coolly and said, "Is that the first time you've been cut since you became an arrancar? Hurts, doesn't it?"

"Do you think you have achieved victory just because you have cut me? You have not seen a fraction of my power."

With that, Ulquiorra suddenly jumped upwards. Ichigo blinked in surprise, looking at the ceiling, then followed him. After going through the holes in the floors above that Ulquiorra had made, he reached a final roof, and stood up. The moon was visible, as was the night sky above Las Noches.

"Prepare yourself for my true form, Kurosaki Ichigo. _Bind, Murci__é__lago._"

Greenish black reiatsu fell like rain from above. Ichigo muttered, "Darken the skies, Zangetsu."

As he released his Zanpakuto, the sky became marginally darker. Soon, the 'rain' stopped, and Ulquiorra could be seen. Ichigo whistled as he saw Ulquiorra's new form and said, "So you're secretly some kind of batman."

He jumped sharply before Ulquiorra could attack, and made the first move. Ulquiorra quickly formed a lance of green spiritual energy in his hand and used it like a sword. The two adversaries fought in the air, their blades meeting more than five times before they could even get to the ground.

Ulquiorra jumped backwards and pointed two fingers at Ichigo.

"Behold, Kurosaki Ichigo, my Cero. _Cero Oscuras!"_

A pure black Cero gathered for a short while at Ulquiorra's fingertips, and extended towards Ichigo.

The Prince simply responded, "It's just like Katsurou's Cero. Nothing I haven't seen yet, Arrancar! _Getsuga Tensho!_"

The bright blue crescent of spiritual energy collided with the black Cero and resisted it long enough for Ichigo to get close to Ulquiorra. However, he was then forced to dodge as a lance came his way. Before he could recover, another lance grazed him. Both combatants landed, and Ichigo winced as he placed a hand on his neck where the lance had struck.

"_What should I do? He's more powerful than me in his new form while I am in Shikai. My Bankai should be able to overcome him easily, but I don't want to use it just yet...Wait. He's a bat...so that means...that he must have extremely sensitive hearing!_"

He had a theory in his mind, and decided to test it out. He held out his palm, and uttered, "_Hado #27: Hasshin!_"

Ulquiorra had not taken any action up till then, but then suddenly perked up. Ichigo's hand was vibrating, and it was pointed at him. There was some kind of sound, but it was coming from all round. Sifting through the various sounds, he realised that the sound was indeed originating from Ichigo's hand.

"What is the meaning of this?"

Ichigo simply smirked, and concentrated. Mentally, he adjusted the power, and the wavelength and frequency of the wave. Ulquiorra raised an eyebrow, and considered striking Ichigo down there and then. But then suddenly, his ears started ringing with an unbelievably loud buzzing noise, and he doubled over, hands in his ears. Ichigo grinned and pumped more power into his attack. Ulquiorra, at that point, actually groaned out in pain, and Ichigo promptly cut off the noise, while keeping the spell active. Without wasting another second, he flash-stepped forward and, with his blade less than a metre away from Ulquiorra, he shouted, "_Getsuga Tensho!_"

Ulquiorra looked up, and a look of shock passed over his features just before the blue energy washed over him. He hissed out in pain as hundreds of spirit particles, all with added cutting power thanks to Ichigo's still vibrating hand, grazed his flesh.

When the attack passed, Ulquiorra was lying on the floor, with his wings shredded all over the place. The one opening he had accidentally given proved to lead to his defeat. His resurreccion faded away, and his body started healing his injuries, albeit very slowly.

"What...did you...do?"

"I figured that you had extremely sensitive hearing because you're a bat. So I created a sound wave that bounced between the wall behind you and my hand. I adjusted the frequency and wavelength until you were standing right in the middle of the standing wave's node – where the sound is loudest. It was a painful experience for you, and it gave me enough time to fire a Getsuga Tensho right at your exposed neck. That weakened your reiatsu sufficiently, so I could end the fight.

Ulquiorra then passed out, and Ichigo walked over to the opening, so that he could get down back to the lower floors. After jumping through multiple floors, he reached the floor where he had ordered Rukia to go on ahead. A door opened, and out burst Inoue, Tatsuki and Rukia.

Ichigo chuckled, "Good to see you three again! Inoue, Tatsuki, did they harm you in any way?"

"Nope, just chucked us in a cell. Good to see you too, you orange-haired idiot!"

Rukia asked wryly, "Arisawa, do you know who he really is?"

"Yup, and I don't care if he's the lord of the universe, I'll talk to him any way I want."

Ichigo growled, "I have half a mind to chuck you back in the cell! Speaking of which, how did you get out anyway?"

Inoue piped up, "I tried using my powers to turn back time on the wall of our cell. That way, we could have an escape route into the desert."

"And I used my powers to try and melt the hinges of the door. I managed to get that done first, and we were preparing to get out when we met Rukia. We than came here."

"Oh, you can use your powers now?"

"Yeah! It's a thermal transfer power."

"Well, that's interesting."

Then, another voice cut in, "I hate to break up this meeting, but I have to arrest all of you."

Everyone turned to find a small army of identical arrancar. There was one unit in front of them, and others on their flanks. Behind them was a wall. They were standing in neat rows, with their hands behind their backs. In front of them was their commander, an arrancar with a mask that looked like a bull's skull.

Ichigo muttered, "Ok, we're completely surrounded. I'd like the three of you to duck..._Now!_"

Rukia, Tatsuki and Inoue promptly ducked, and Ichigo drew his sword and swung it in a wide arc, making sure that the tip passed every single soldier.

"_Getsuga Tensho!_"

The resulting blast resounded through the hall, and blew away most of the soldiers. The commander remained unscathed, and grunted angrily. Ichigo quickly hit him with a powerful binding spell, and held him in place, then flash-stepped forward and slashed out. But, unexpectedly, a short blade stopped his. Ichigo looked up to find a blond, dark-skinned woman blocking his sword.

The woman said in a low-pitched voice, "Rudobone, fall back. This man is powerful. I have just received word that he defeated Ulquiorra."

Rudobone stood up and acknowledged, "Understood, Madam Harribel."

He flash-stepped away, and Harribel ruthlessly attacked Ichigo. The Prince grunted as the Third Espada struck him repeatedly.

"_This one is much more powerful than Batman upstairs!_"

Harribel unexpectedly kicked Ichigo, who skidded back. She pumped spiritual energy into her sword and pointed it right at him.

"_Ola Azul!_"

A blast of yellow spiritual energy came out, and Ichigo quickly got up and stood between Inoue, Tatsuki and Rukia and blocked it.

Harribel looked up, almost in approval.

"It seems you are prepared to make sacrifices for your own friends. But are you prepared to make the biggest sacrifice of all?"

Ichigo glared at her, then his eyes widened as he felt some _very_ familiar spiritual energy. He then grinned. Harribel suddenly gasped and fell to the floor.

Rukia looked around in shock.

"Who did that?"

She looked at Harribel and was shocked to see two bright blue arrows protruding from Harribel's torso.

"A Quincy? Is Ishida here?"

Ichigo said proudly, "No. It's not Ishida."

He turned around to see another figure step in, wearing a black trenchcoat over a black suit. He bowed, and said, "It's good to see you again in person, _Aniue*_. It's been a long time."

"Too long, Ichigo!", grinned the man, who came forward into the light.

_To be continued_

*_Aniue_ – a respectful, somewhat archaic way to address an older brother in Japanese. I think it has almost the same degree of respect as 'Nii-sama'.

Following this will be short filler arc, involving the events of the Amagai Arc, as a Christmas Special.


	14. The Runaway Princess

The Dark Prince

I have some **important news** for you all before we begin, so please do read this note. I am going on an **11 month hiatus** starting from the end of this week. I'm writing my GCE A-levels this year, so I have to study. I'll finish _Kurosaki Ichigo, Master of Time and Space_, and one chapter of the Filler Arc for _The Dark Prince_ (the filler itself should be two or three chapters in all). I'm sorry this had to happen, but I can't write this year. But I'll return in December 2011, and finish all my existing stories, perhaps even add new ones, because I'll be very free after that. Well, at least, I'm free until I have to go and join the army for two years, which is compulsory for 18-year old males in Singapore.

Please note that this filler takes place at the same time as the Amagai filler took place in the anime, and the team is still in Karakura Town. Ichigo has already formed his partnership with the Hogyoku, and Tatsuki is able to freely use her abilities.

There was some protest regarding this filler, and while that protest is valid (filler arcs are somewhat irritating after all), I can't entertain that request, because I felt that this filler was a good way to showcase some of Ichigo's (and Katsurou's) attitudes regarding the Gotei-13 and nobility in Seireitei. So…let me cast aside my hesitation and present to you the first part of the Filler, and the last chapter for _The Dark Prince_ until December this year. Thank you, all of you, for your reviews, personal messages, and support in general, especially you who have stuck with this story since the beginning. It was thanks to all of you that this story continued as it did, and I hope you enjoy the rest of it.

Chapter 14: The Runaway Princess

"Wow! That was incredible!" exclaimed Katsurou as he, Ichigo, Rukia and Tatsuki left the movie theatre after watching _Inception_.

"Yeah!" Ichigo concurred, "Seriously, Soul Society should try doing something like that!"

Rukia asked dryly, "Oh? And how are you going to get to Aizen and his team to fall asleep at the same time in order to do something like this?"

Tatsuki chuckled, "You're right about that. But still, it was a great movie, especially that zero-gravity fight! It was kinda scary too, though. Speaking of Aizen, since his Zanpakuto can cast illusions on people, it might actually be possible for him to perform Inception on them."

Shivering slightly at the thought, they silently thanked the heavens that there were powerful people who were not under the influence of Kyoka Suigetsu. The four continued walking. En route, Rukia received a phone call, and after ending it, she turned to the others and said, "Guys, Captain Ukitake just called. He says that a new Captain has been appointed. Captain Amagai Shusuke is the new Captain of the Third Squad."

Katsurou cocked an eyebrow at her and said, "Well, let's hope this guy is good. I taught the Third Division well a long time ago when I was its captain, and he'd better take good care of him. But I don't remember ever having heard of a man called Amagai in the Third, though. Was he from a different squad?"

"You could say that. He was actually in a Patrol Group, commissioned by Covert Operations. His group had been assigned to slay Hollows in the Real World. They weren't actually affiliated with any Division, though. They were given some general orders, and they carried them out in their own way and under their own leader, Amagai himself."

"I see. Well, at least they've got a Captain. Izuru was really busy since Ichimaru left like that. This will take some work off his shoulders. It's certainly not easy to lead a squad on your own."

Ichigo commented, "Well, I hope he's not as traditional as some of the others, though. Some of them refuse to do certain things because they've never done it before. Do you remember that time when I tried to recommend to Suì-Fēng that the Second Division should take a course on Forensic Science? She dismissed it as some idiotic human dream."

Tatsuki was surprised at this, and asked, "That's strange. Given how respectful everyone is to you, wouldn't she at least consider it, since you're a Prince?"

"They don't know about it, Tatsuki. I decided not to tell them for now. People behave differently if they know different things about those whom they're dealing with, and while I could actually use my authority if they knew I was a Prince, they might also try and cover up their wrongs to prevent me from knowing. And I want to know what those wrongs are, so that they can actually be made right."

"Is it just me, or have you gotten smarter since you got back your memories?"

"Oh shut up. I was quite smart even before then. I just chose not to show it very often!"

Tatsuki snorted derisively at his smug tone and after a while, they got back home and went to sleep. In the morning, none of them felt the small amount of reiatsu that had gathered on the other side of town, near the river. A Senkai gate had opened up, and out stepped two men. One of them walked freely while the other, a very large man, was pulling a carriage with him. Inside the carriage was a small person in a pink kimono. The person in the kimono said in a girl's voice, "I am hungry, Kenryu, Enryu! Give me something to eat!"

The smaller man said in a very polite tone, "We will, Princess Rurichiyo, but first, we must get to safety, which means getting our Faux Bodies. After that, you can eat all you want."

"But I'm hungry, Kenryu!"

"I understand, and I am very sorry, Princess. But we are in grave danger, and we have to get to safety first." He turned to his partner, the very large man, and said, "Enryu, release the bait now, will you?"

The other man nodded, and then reached into his pocket and threw something into the sky. Within seconds, a great roar was heard from miles away.

"What was that, Kenryu?"

"It was just a Hollow, Princess. Do not worry. We are safe." The man turned towards the city, and muttered under his breath, "Now's your test, Kurosaki Ichigo. I pray you are strong enough for our purposes."

With that, he and his partner hurriedly moved off with the 'Princess' still in her carriage.

At school

'Mr. Kurosaki the literature teacher' was taking the class that day. Keigo and Mizuiro were extremely shocked, but dared not comment, and the rest of the class had had their memories wiped. The spiritually aware bunch found it hard to get used to, but things were easier when they reminded themselves that Ichigo was, after all, 2900-odd years old. However, as the lesson went on, Ichigo felt a massive wave of reiatsu outside. He took off his glasses in surprise, and then hurriedly said, "Class dismissed!"

Surprised, but happy for this sudden development, the students left promptly, and Ichigo, Rukia, Tatsuki, Inoue, Sado and Uryu ran out of the classroom quickly. They soon met up with Katsurou (who was the music teacher), and went outside. As he saw that hundreds of Hollows were present, Ichigo turned to Uryu and asked suspiciously, "You don't happen to have set off any of that Hollow bait of yours, do you?"

"Of course not. After that one time I released it, I made sure to destroy the rest safely. Someone else is acting here."

"Well, in that case, everyone spread out and put down those Hollows!"

The group split up and moved around. Katsurou looked at the Hollows seriously, then summoned his mask over his face, and said, "_Stand in silence, Haka!_"

With his Zanpakuto released, he swept through the ranks of Hollows, his sword sliding through them like a hot knife through butter. Even as he felt the thrill of his blade moving through flesh, he focussed on the other aspect of his mission: to protect the humans. He kept an eye on the ground, looking out for trouble. He soon found it: someone, perhaps a child, walking on the road wearing a pink kimono and a face-hiding hat that were ridiculously out of place in a town like this. Katsurou dropped lower, and by an analysis of the child's reiatsu, he confirmed that he/she was a spirit. He dropped to the ground level, and the gust of wind created by his reiatsu caused the hat to fall off, revealing a young girl with long blonde hair and striking green eyes. For some reason, as soon as the hat was blown off, the girl's reiatsu became slightly higher. "_The hat must hide reiatsu, then,_" Thought Katsurou, who made his way over to her.

"Hey, miss, are you alright?"

The girl looked at him with slightly narrow eyes and said, "I am hungry! Get me something to eat!"

Katsurou frowned, and replied, "You're a spirit. You don't need food anymore. Here, let me send you to Soul Society."

"No! I want food now!"

Katsurou was about to reply, but then, he felt reiatsu behind him, and turned around to see two Shinigami coming straight at him…and behind them was a large group of Hollows. The two reapers landed right past Katsurou and grabbed the young child. The shorter of the two men, who had black hair and a sharp look, turned and said, "We'll leave the rest to you, Shinigami! See to it that the Hollows are killed!"

"Hey, hold on!"

The small group was about to flash-step away, but Katsurou knew better than to let them get away.

"_Bakudo #9: Geki!_"

The small group was promptly trapped by a red light, and were only able to move their mouths and eyes.

"What is this? I demand that you unhand us at once, Shinigami!"

"No, I won't, until you answer my questions!"

Katsurou proceeded to kill the remaining Hollows in that area, and then walked over to them.

"Who are you three and what are you doing here? You're as suspicious as weasels running a charity organisation, and I have half a mind to report you to my superior right away!"

"Silence, commoner! The difference in our statuses is as vast as the ocean itself!"

Katsurou was, by nature, a calm and gentle man. But there was no way he was going to stand by and let his pride as a Knight of Zero Division be insulted. He gave the man a few hard knocks upside his head and snapped, "You're not exactly in a position to make threats. I can see now that you're from a Noble Family. Tell me which family you're from, and who you are, now."

The man glared at him with as much dignity as he could muster, and said coldly, "I am Kenzaki Ryusei, and this is my partner Enkogawa Rusaburo. And this…" At this point, he tried to kneel, but he was unable to, because of the spell. He gave up trying, and said, "This is our mistress, Princess Rurichiyo of the Kasumioji family!"

"Release me at once and bring me something to eat!"

"Oh, Kasumioji family, huh? I'll release you and bring you to…higher authority. Follow me and don't try to escape."

With their pride bruised, the men and the girl followed him. They soon made it to an area outside school where everyone else had gathered. Rukia and the others had gotten back inside their faux bodies, and were in their school uniforms, except for Ichigo, who was in the brown suit he wore as a teacher.

"So who are those, Katsurou?"

"They're members of the Kasumioji noble family. The girl is the princess, Rurichiyo, and the men are her bodyguards, Kenzaki Ryusei and Enkogawa Rusaburo, Kenryu and Enryu for short. I have no idea why they're here, but from their tone of voice, it seems as if they came to sightsee."

Kenzaki snapped, "We don't have time for such mundane matters as sightseeing! But either way, you have brought us to Kurosaki Ichigo."

"Yeah, that's me. What do you want with me?"

The girl, Rurichiyo, said promptly, "I want food! Give it to me at once!"

Kenzaki, who had been about to say something very pompously, deflated, but then, he puffed up his chest again, and said pompously, "Kurosaki Ichigo, as the bodyguard of Princess Rurichiyo, I outrank you by far. As such, I demand that you procure food for Princess Rurichiyo!"

Ichigo lazily raised an eyebrow and said, "In case you've forgotten, this is the real world, and you won't get around by ordering people around. Remember that you're no longer in Soul Society, and that this town falls under _my_ jurisdiction. If you want food, there are shops all over the place. Go to any one of them and buy it for yourselves."

Too proud to admit that they had no cash, Kenryu snapped, "We have no need of the services of such a rude man! Shall we go, Princess? We shall find a way out of this mess ourselves."

Ichigo and the others waited till they were out of earshot, and then burst out laughing.

The next morning

Ichigo woke up to the noise of a truck outside, and looked out through the window. It was the noble family again, and they were moving into the house next door.

"_They know me by name, and seemed to want to see me. The man…Kenryu tried giving me an order yesterday, and now, they're moving right next door…in faux bodies? Then Kisuke must know something of it. Either way, they want something from me._"

He took out his phone and called up Urahara.

"_Hello? Who's that?_"

"Kisuke, it's me, Ichigo. I have a few questions to ask."

"_Ah, about your new neighbours, correct? Well…they, umm…_"

"Spit it out, Kisuke!"

"_Alright, alright. They're one of my top-paying clients, see, and they wanted a favour. They wanted a safe place in the real world for their princess, so I used my memory modifier to make your real neighbours move out. I then provided them with faux bodies and had them move in. It's really for the protection of Kasumioji Rurichiyo._"

"Ok, I understand. It's not really a problem, but it could be a bit of a distraction. What does this princess need protection from anyway?"

"_They didn't tell me, actually. They didn't even say anything about protection, really – that was just some easy guesswork, since the nobles generally don't come to the real world for no reason. They just asked for the faux bodies and a place to stay, and they tried to buy my silence by offering an extra. But I knew you would ask sooner or later, so I made no promises regarding silence._"

"Good. I'll go see them later, Kisuke."

As he put aside his phone, a voice shouted out, "Ichigo!"

He looked outside his window to find Rurichiyo waving at him. Out of politeness, he went outside with Rukia and walked over to their house. Kenryu said suspiciously, "Why are you here, Kurosaki Ichigo?"

Ichigo played dumb and said, "That girl called us over. Anyway, welcome to Karakura Town! I'm your neighbour, Kurosaki Ichigo, and this is my friend Kuchiki Rukia." He made sure to emphasise 'Kuchiki', and as Kenryu gasped, he continued, "What's your name then? Is that girl there your daughter?"

Kenryu glared at Ichigo and said silently, "What are you playing at, Kurosaki Ichigo?"

Ichigo said in a matching whisper, "That's my line, Kenzaki. What are you guys doing here? Is there something you need me for?"

Looking around suspiciously, Kenryu muttered, "Meet us at 10 pm today, at our house."

"Good. I'll see you later."

10 pm that night

Ichigo and his group were seated in Kenryu's place. The Princess was sleeping, and the two bodyguards looked very serious. Kenryu started, "There's been a problem in the Kasumioji family…"

He went on to explain the family's problems, that Rurichiyo's parents had died when she was very young, and that while she was meant to lead the family, an elder called Kumoi was trying to make himself the leader through a puppet.

"He'll try to take power through any way possible. He's already killed several other authority figures, and we realised that Princess Rurichiyo was next. So we ran from that place.

Katsurou asked, "Couldn't you have asked Soul Society for help instead?"

"No. Soul Society isn't allowed to interfere with us in any way. So they would have refused even if we had asked. We were too weak to stop Kumoi, as he has the security force of our family at his command."

"I see. You want me to protect Rurichiyo then."

"That is correct, Kurosaki Ichigo. We have heard of your great strength, and your willingness to protect those in need. We may have got off to a bad start, but I would like to humbly request your assistance."

Tatsuki asked, "You never actually told her about all this, did you?"

"No. We wish her to be happy, so we cannot let her know. Well than, Kurosaki Ichigo, what is your answer? All we need is your protection and silence."

Ichigo deliberated over it. He then said, "You know…before I answer that, I'd advise you to first go and check out the source of strange reiatsu upstairs."

Alarmed, everyone sprung into action and ran out of the house. There were several men standing on the roof, and all of them were dressed in tight-fitting clothes and masks. Ichigo got out of his body and drew his sword. He jumped towards the most powerful adversary, knowing that Katsurou would then go for the second-strongest. The ninja he was fighting had spiky purple hair and a large scar on his face, and his name was Nukui Hanza. He carried a weapon that resembled a sealed Zanpakuto, but it had a large mirror attached to it. Ichigo engaged him in close-quarters combat, and as they traded blows with their blades, he asked, "So you're from Kumoi, are you? Are you here to kill Rurichiyo so that he can take power?"

The man's eyes widened considerably, and then he replied, "Rurichiyo is too weak to be the leader of the noble Kasumioji family! I will not let her rise to power!"

"As much as I agree that a young girl like her should not be allowed to be made any sort of leader, I cannot let you harm children. It's too bad, but within 5 minutes, you'll be beaten!"

"Tough words! But can you follow up?"

The two continued exchanging blows, and then, Hanza tried something else. He held up his sword in such a way that the mirror suddenly shone extremely brightly. However, Ichigo saw it coming just before the mirror reached maximum brightness, and immediately held out a hand and yelled, "_Bakudo #26: Kyokko!_"

As he cast the spell, the rays of light that came towards him from the mirror was suddenly bent and went elsewhere instead of hitting his face.

"That was close! You tried to reflect the moonlight onto my face, didn't you?"

"What…what did you do?"

"The 26th Bakudo bends light to make a person invisible. But the bending of light can also be used for other purposes, like what I just did."

Growling in anger, Hanza sprung forward to attack, and even as he blocked, parried and attacked, Ichigo casually asked, "What exactly is that weapon you're carrying? It doesn't have its own reiatsu, so it can't be a Zanpakuto. Is it merely a normal sword?"

"No…this is a _Bakkoto_! It is a special weapon that the Kasumioji Family manufactures."

"They're not actually legal now, are they?"

Not answering, Hanza continued to attack him. Having nothing more to say to the man, or any more information he wanted to get out of him, Ichigo decided to end the fight.

"_Bakudo #63: Sajo Sabaku! Hado #63: Raikoho!_"

A glowing golden chain wrapped itself around Hanza, sealing off is movements. The assassin tried to break free, but neither his physical strength nor reiatsu was enough compared to the Prince's superior reiatsu. The blast of yellow lightning that came after Ichigo cast the second spell was very thin and concentrated, and shot right through his heart. With a weak cry, Hanza collapsed to the floor, with a hole in the place of his heart. Ichigo walked over to where his Bakkoto lay, but before he could pick it up, another assassin appeared, grabbed it and flash-stepped off.

Everyone else had also finished their fights, and had gathered outside the house. Kenryu and Enryu, at that point, stepped out of the house, and Kenryu said, "The Princess is safe. Thank you for your work. Now, Kurosaki Ichigo, may we hear your answer to our earlier question?"

Ichigo looked at them coldly and said, "You know, I've never liked the really conservative nobles – relax, Rukia, I don't consider you or your brother to be very conservative. But the others, like the Kasumioji family really disgust me sometimes."

Katsurou added, "Me too. You unfairly treat the so-called commoners like trash, even though, in some ways they are better than you. Those who go to Rukongai are of this world, but while they are still living, they do so much within their short lifespan. I'd like to see the noble who can, within 80 years, go to school and get a Masters Degree or a Ph.D, work and support a family, contribute to society by paying taxes, or by taking on professions like teaching, or serving in the military. Some noble families, like the Kuchiki, Ukitake and Kyoraku families do such things. But you don't, not even with your extended life spans."

Kenryu tensed, but did not dare antagonise the people he was asking a favour of. Ichigo said, "Thanks for your opinion, Katsurou. Now, in answer to your earlier question, I'll agree to your request. She's just a girl, and I won't let one such as her die. But I want you guys to trust my judgment, and follow my orders."

Kenryu and Enryu looked reluctant, and a slightly exasperated Tatsuki said, "Look, Ichigo is the Shinigami in charge of this town, and it makes sense to follow one who knows the layout well, isn't it?"

Kenryu bowed his head and Enryu followed suit.

"Very well. We are grateful for your assistance, Kurosaki Ichigo."

A few days later

"Ichigo, I just spoke to Renji, who's in Soul Society. Turns out, the new Captain Amagai is trying to push for joint training exercises between the squads."

"Oh, is he now? That's good. In my experience, new captains usually don't offer their ideas because they're afraid it would be rejected on the grounds that they are, well, new. That reminds me, back when Katsurou was the Third Division Captain, he had some really good methods."

Rukia asked seriously, "Ichigo, I don't have much experience in the affairs of nobility and their politics, since Brother takes care of it all with his advisors. But what do you think brought this on, and how do you think it could develop?"

Ichigo leaned back and looked at the ceiling, thinking about it. He said, "In this case, there's someone who's trying to take power for himself. I know for a fact that the Kasumioji family usually has a female head, which means that Kumoi can't make himself the official head. Maybe he plans on taking Rurichiyo and offering her some kind of incentive, or forcing her, to obey his orders. That makes her a puppet while he's the real ruler. In fact, he doesn't even need her. He could pretend that for some reason, Rurichiyo can no longer interact with the public. He could pretend that she was sick, and needed to be kept away from everyone. He could then issue orders, pretending that those orders came from her. He only hasn't tried that because he knows that the real Rurichiyo is still alive, and might come back and reveal his deception."

"I see. Do you think he might secretly turn to the Gotei-13, though? He could bribe some officers, perhaps even a lieutenant to provide some protection for them?"

Ichigo turned serious, and said, "I wouldn't put it past them, Rukia. We have to be very careful here. Now that you mention it, there is a new captain, who was assigned to his squad at the same time as Kenryu and Enryu come here. It might be a coincidence, but I'm not prepared to take any chances."

He took out a blank sheet of paper and wrote something on it, and then walked into the next room where Katsurou was reading a novel, and said, "Katsurou, I have a mission for you."

"What is it, your Highness?"

"I need you to go to Seireitei and observe Captain Amagai. Take this paper with you and have the Commander sign it. It says that you're a visitor from a different Soul Society who will be staying with the Third Division for a while."

"What about my name, though? Katsurou is definitely Japanese."

"Just pretend you were a Japanese man who went to live in a different country when you were still a living human."

"Sounds good. I'll notify you if anything happens, _Denka_."

Katsurou took a bag with some of his belongings, and went off to Urahara's shop to use his Senkai Gate.

A few days later

Ichigo and his gang had unexpectedly been charged with bringing Rurichiyo around town because the young noble wanted to know more about earth customs. She pointed to a massive Christmas tree that decorated a mall, and asked, "What is that, Ichigo?"

"That's a Christmas tree, Rurichiyo. This is a time of the year when people celebrate a festival called Christmas."

"So you celebrate festivals in the Real World with massive trees? How amusing! We should try this too, Kenryu, Enryu!"

Eager to please the Princess, Kenryu said, "Why yes indeed, Princess! It sounds a delightful idea!"

"Who are those, Ichigo? The ones in red coats and white beards?"

"That's Santa, Rurichiyo. He's…a bit like a kind grandfather who gives children presents on Christmas day. People often dress up like him, donning red coats and beards just to add to the festive atmosphere."

They stopped for a while and listened to the group of men dressed as Santa, who were holding musical instruments and playing a Christmas tune. Ishida turned to Sado and remarked, "They're pretty good, aren't they? It's not very often we get to hear Christmas carols like these."

"Indeed, Ishida. But something seems odd here. Why is nobody standing around and listening to them? Usually people would stop and listen for a while, wouldn't they? And, also…look at that man with the trumpet! He's not even playing! His fingers are randomly pressing the keys! And yet, the tune sounds good."

"Don't tell me it's a recording?"

Ichigo chipped in, "And they have reiatsu as well. I just took a look behind them earlier, and they actually have swords with them."

"Uh-oh."

"Exactly."

At that moment, the Santas lowered their musical instruments and placed them on the ground. One of them took up a bauble on the floor…and threw it at Ichigo and his group. The bauble suddenly exploded, causing a bit of commotion (It was made of real world particles, so it was seen by the public). Ichigo, who was still in his body, yelled, "Bomb alert! Everyone out of here, in an orderly fashion!"

People started screaming and panicking, and started to escape.

"Kenryu, Enryu, escape with Rurichiyo now!" His advice was not needed, however, as the two bodyguards had already escaped into the crowd carrying Rurichiyo. The Santas took off their fake beards and coats to reveal the ninja uniform worn by the assassins, and sprung forward to attack. Tatsuki jumped high, and came down hard on one of them, using gravity to speed up her fall. She successfully landed a blow on his shoulder, but the assassin ignored the pain easily and fought back, slashing out with his sword. Tatsuki jumped up to the upper levels of the mall and ran into a shop, formulating a plan. She picked up a DVD cover and pretended to be examining it, while she hid her reiatsu. The assassin soon came running after her, and looked around in confusion, wondering which shop she was in. With his sword out, he walked slowly through. Tatsuki saw her chance and used her own version of flash-steps to get to him in an instant. As he looked at her in shock, she punched him hard and sent him over the edge, tumbling towards the bottom floor of the mall. Even as he fell, she jumped down after him and kicked him hard with both feet on his face.

With this enemy down, she went back to join the others, who had also finished up. At Ichigo's instructions, all of them headed over to the Urahara shop.

Urahara shop

"So, what's going on, Kurosaki?"

"Katsurou just informed me of a new development in the Kasumioji family over the phone. Apparently, Kumoi sent out an invite to some other nobles for Rurichiyo's wedding."

"What? How can this be?"

"Rukia, remember what I told you? He can actually rule in the absence of Rurichiyo, by having a fake Rurichiyo. This could be it. Or, he plans to lure us there."

"So what'll we do then? Do we go to Soul Society and stop the wedding?" asked Sado. Ichigo said, "Damn straight."

At that moment, Ururu came in with a large yellow duffle bag, and placed it on the table. Ichigo said, "It won't be good if we were to use our normal weapons. They have traces of our reiatsu all over them, and we'll be seen as villains."

"How would we fight without our weapons, Kurosaki?"

"Here's how."

Ichigo reached into the yellow bag and pulled out a small, easily concealable automatic rifle. Everyone gasped loudly.

"You've got to be joking, Ichigo!"

"Why not? It seemed a good way to go about it. We can just go in disguise and disrupt the ceremony there."

Chuckling at the crazy plan, everyone took a weapon for themselves, and prepared to go to Soul Society to stop a wedding.

_To be continued_

So, what do you think? They watched Inception, got attacked by Santas (I borrowed that from _Doctor Who_ by the way), and took guns to Soul Society! The next part of this filler will come in December this year, and updating one of my stories will be one of the first few things I'll do as soon as my A-levels end. Thanks for all the support, and I hope you all continue reading this story even after the wait!


	15. The Runaway Princess Part 2

The Dark Prince

Welcome back, everyone! This is the second and final chapter of the Filler. The chapter after this will resume the 'official' storyline of _The Dark Prince_.

Recap: Princess Rurichiyo of the Kasumioji Family suddenly appears in the Living World with two bodyguards who want Ichigo to protect her from her caretaker Kumoi, who is secretly leading an effort to make himself the ruler of the Kasumioji Family. At around the same time, Amagai Shusuke is made Captain of the Third Division. To investigate this man, Ichigo sends Katsurou, his Knight.

After a while, he finds out that the Kasumioji Family has made preparations for a wedding ceremony – and the bride is Rurichiyo herself. Realising that this is a trap to draw the real Rurichiyo out, Ichigo and his friends decide to head to Soul Society to stop Kumoi.

Chapter 15: The Runaway Princess Part 2

Everything was set. The noble princess and her two bodyguards were stationed at the Urahara Shop, with instructions from the owner to 'remain right where you are' and 'please leave the rest to Kurosaki-san'.

Meanwhile, Ichigo and the others (including Tatsuki, Rukia, Ishida and Sado) had just left through the World Gate to Soul Society, to deal with Kumoi and his plans. To save time, they had decided to have the briefing en route.

"Alright, listen up guys. There are masks and scarves in the bag; use them to cover your faces. Once we get in, we go straight to the Kasumioji family manor. When we get in, take down anyone who tries to stop us – quietly. That's why we have silencers."

There were grunts of approval all around.

"Umm…try not to kill anyone", chuckled someone, and everyone laughed weakly at the morbid thought. After a few minutes of walking, they were at the exit, and got out. They were at the gates of the Kasumioji manor after walking a short while. Just inside the gates was a tall flight of stairs that led to the manor, which was actually sited on a hilltop. From the bottom of the stairs, it was easy to see that festivities were underway. There were gaudy decorations all over the place, and guards were stationed at the top of the stairs. The small group flash-stepped up (with Ishida helping Tatsuki), and took down the guards quickly, shooting their legs, and then knocking them out.

Still undetected, they walked inside the compound, and came to a corridor with multiple doors.

"Alright everyone, split up in groups of two and move towards the area where the wedding is supposedly taking place. Don't be fooled; the whole thing is a sham, and the 'happy couple' is likely a pair of actors paid to act like Rurichiyo and her fiancé."

"Yeah!"

With that, Tatsuki and Rukia went off through one door, Ishida and Sado took another door, and Ichigo took the last one. He slid the door open and entered a room where there was a door on the wall opposite. He opened this as well, but found himself attacked instantly by a group of soldiers working for Kumoi. Obviously they must have been stationed there from the beginning, since the alarm hadn't been raised yet. Responding quickly, he fired a volley of rounds at them with his weapon and took them down. The gun was silenced, but some servants happened to be passing by. The ladies saw the guards lying on the ground, and a man wearing a black mask and a scarf over his head, and naturally panicked. Ichigo desperately motioned at them to shut up, since he couldn't shoot bystanders or use Kido or any spiritual art to restrain them. So they ended up running away, screaming and calling for more guards.

"Che! So much for keeping quiet! Now we'll have Kumoi's private army on us!"

Still, he pressed on, getting closer to the area where the wedding was taking place. Obviously, Kumoi was going to be there, given his status in the family. There would be few soldiers at the ceremony itself, and the crowd would mostly consist of nobles and some commoners, who would have been let in as a gesture of goodwill by the Family. All that mattered was to somehow drag Kumoi out, and when nobody was watching, threaten him and make him drop the act. The threat of having the real Rurichiyo come back would be enough, as it would expose him as a con artist who arranged a sham marriage. Rurichiyo's testimony, along with that of her bodyguards should be sufficient to warrant Kumoi's arrest.

Lost in his thoughts, Ichigo almost did not notice an assassin's sword being swung down on him from behind. He sensed it just in time.

"You coward-" started Ichigo as he turned behind, realising that it was too late to avoid.

However, the stroke never made it. The assassin's blade stopped with a loud clang.

"What in the name of…It's you!"

Standing before him, blocking the blade from hitting its would-be target, was Murayama Katsurou himself. The Knight had returned from his assignment just in time to fulfil his duty to his lord. With a quick swipe, Katsurou killed the assassin, and turned back and bowed deeply to Ichigo.

"I've completed the assignment you gave me, _Denka_."

"You know, I could have taken care of that guy myself."

"There was no need for you to do that, your Highness. As a knight, I am your sword and shield. My blade exists for the sake of cutting down your enemies before you."

Ichigo chuckled and clapped Katsurou on the shoulder.

"Thanks, old friend! Come on, let's get a move on – tell me what you've found out about Amagai on the way."

"Of course. But first, what's with the mask and the scarf, your Highness?"

"Ah…these?" Ichigo took off his disguise and dropped them on the floor as he walked along. He also held out a hand and summoned the sealed form of Zangetsu along with his sheath into his palm.

"I guess they're no longer needed. We wanted to make this as 'clean' as possible, disguising ourselves and using guns and knives instead of our Zanpakuto or spiritual abilities. That way, nobody would suspect we were here. But since you're here and the alarm has already been sounded, there's no point anymore."

"Oh…I'm so sorry! I should have taken more care to be discreet!"

"Don't worry about that! We should have told you about it. Either way, it doesn't really matter. They probably already know that we're involved since Rurichiyo's men came to us for help. Before anything else, let me tell you what's going on now: We need to get Kumoi out, and force him to back down – by threatening to expose him as a liar and a crook."

"Understood. I've found some things about Amagai Shusuke as well. All the records show that he's an academy student who was good at what he did, but he seems to have kept a low profile. He applied to the Second Division, and was sent on a patrol corps to hunt Hollows in the real world. But we don't know much about his life before the academy. The other thing I found out was about his weapon. He has a fire-type Zanpakuto and is skilled in its use, but he also has a second weapon. Turns out, that second weapon is a Bakkoto."

This made Ichigo stop in his tracks.

"A Bakkoto? Those weapons that used by the Kasumioji Family assassins?"

"Yes, the same weapons. I know for a fact that Genryusai-sensei tried to investigate the House a while back, suspecting that they were producing these dangerous weapons, but he was blocked by Central 46 because they do not allow the Gotei-13 to interfere with Noble Families. The fact that Amagai has these weapons just means one thing."

"He's working for the House. That's the only reason they would supply him with such weapons. He couldn't have threatened them to give him the weapon 'cause they could legally get rid of him for interfering in their activities."

"I came to the same conclusion, your Highness. He must have been trying to gain power somehow, so he turned to the illegal Bakkoto."

"Let's hurry then! If he knows that we're attacking the House of Kasumioji, he might come running to protect those whom he made a contract with."

"Yes, your Highness!"

The two men kept running, and soon came to a large open balcony. They were in luck! For the wedding was taking place in that very location. The 'bride' and 'bridegroom' standing on the edge, looking at the crowd below, which was cheering for them. The fake bride was wearing a headdress that covered her face, so the crowd did not know that she was not Rurichiyo, but a poser. Kumoi was standing a slight distance back, with his hair neatly combed back, and looking very pleased. When he turned and saw the two men who had just waltzed in through the door, he glared, and snapped his fingers.

Instantly, commandoes from the Second Division flash stepped onto the roof, with Captain Suì-Fēng in the middle.

"That's as far as you go, Kurosaki Ichigo! Stand down or we will be forced to arrest you for interfering with the affairs of a noble family!"

Ichigo muttered, "I expected as much. Katsurou, would you be willing to do the honours?"

"Of course, your Highness," smirked the Knight, who pointed at the fake Rurichiyo's headdress and intoned, "_Hado #1: Sho!_"

The blast spell knocked off the regal headdress – to reveal the masked face of an assassin. Suì-Fēng gasped, and Ichigo took advantage of the situation to point at Kumoi and yell, "Crook! That's not the real Princess! This is a sham!"

Kumoi's face distorted in rage, and he shouted, "Guards! Seize them!" At the same time, he grabbed the fake Princess and pushed him to the floor, effectively pulling him below the line of sight of the audience. The Guards immediately surrounded Ichigo and Katsurou, but Suì-Fēng had the good sense to understand the situation and act fast.

"Men, Gyokaku Kumoi of the Kasumioji Family is no longer trustworthy. Take care of his guards and aid Kurosaki!"

"Yes, ma'am!"

The Commandoes pounced and warded off Kumoi's guards. Ichigo grabbed Kumoi by his collar and dragged him into the room he had just entered from. Katsurou and Suì-Fēng followed suit. The door was closed, and Kumoi was thrown roughly into a corner. Suì-Fēng spoke first.

"How dare you betray our trust, Gyokaku Kumoi! The Gotei-13 is honour-bound to protect the rights and dignity of the Noble Families, but you have deceived us and used us!"

"The Gotei-13 is not allowed to interfere in our own private affairs! You would be wise to keep your mouth shut, woman!"

"Why you-"

Before Suì-Fēng could riposte, someone else came into the room through the window. It was none other than Amagai Shusuke.

"Captain Amagai! What are you doing here?"

Amagai ignored Suì-Fēng's surprised cry, focussing on Kumoi instead.

"You worthless scumbag. You couldn't even draw out the real Princess even after all this time? What a waste of time!"

"W-wait! I'll find her and bring her to you!"

For some reason, Kumoi was reduced to begging before Amagai, much to the bemusement of the others. Just what was going on here? Wasn't Amagai working for Kumoi? As they stared on in confusion, Amagai drew his sword, fast as lightning, and drove it into Kumoi's belly. The blood went spurting high, and Kumoi fell with a dreadful cry of pain.

Everyone gaped in shock. The newcomer Captain, of whom many good things had been said, had just appeared and stabbed Kumoi with his sword. He bent down to the Bakkoto that Kumoi had dropped, and plucked out its eye, ignoring the revulsion evident on the faces of the witnesses to his atrocious deeds.

The first to recover was Katsurou, who immediately snapped, "Amagai! What is the meaning of this?"

The captain turned to him with fire in his eyes, and smirked – a smile of triumph.

"The time has come for me to have my vengeance on all those who have taken everything from me – starting with the Kasumioji Family!"

Ichigo rolled his eyes, "Try again. I've heard that line so many times it's just boring. But either way, I assume you're also after the Kasumioji Princess? Too bad for you, she's out of your reach and well-guarded. Don't bother going after her – you'll be defeated before you even know it."

Amagai glared at him and opened his mouth, as if to say something, but thought better of it. In one swift movement, he reached for the papers he kept in his robes, and scattered them all around him.

"Katsurou! He's getting away!"

Before Prince or Knight could do anything, a bright green light surrounded them, and when it had subsided, Amagai was gone. Only the dying Kumoi was left behind. There was no time to waste. Ichigo spread his senses out, and immediately told Katsurou, "I can sense him. He's at the First Division."

Katsurou turned pale, "Is he planning to go after Genryusai-sensei?"

"That's possible. Why don't you go on ahead and stop him? I still have a few questions for this old man."

"Got it!"

The Knight, who had the good sense not to address Ichigo as a Prince in front of Suì-Fēng, flash stepped away. Suì-Fēng went with him as soon as she heard the mention of a threat to the Commander. Meanwhile, Ichigo knelt down in front of the corrupt nobleman. Even as he lay dying, Kumoi clutched desperately at his fading life.

"You! Get me some water! Get the servants! Can't you see I'm dying here, commoner?"

"It is a death you deserve, old man, for manipulating a young girl and for sacrificing so many of your men unnecessarily with such…repulsive…weapons. Since when was Amagai your…partner?"

The old man's look of defiance turned to one of rage at the name of Amagai.

"That traitor!" he spat, "He was supposed to help me get rid of the princess! He promised to make me the head of this house!"

"And in exchange, you gave him the weapon your house specialised in – the Bakkoto."

Kumoi cackled madly, "That's right! I hope it consumes him – serves him right for betraying me!"

Ichigo raised his eyebrows. Consume? This was new. He asked about it, and the nobleman explained, "Didn't you know? The Bakkoto works by consuming the user's reiatsu. If the wielder is weakened in a fight, the weapon sucks him dry, effectively-"

"-killing him. So it's a parasite that feeds on one's reiatsu. And they're illegal…"

Ichigo glared at the nobleman, but then realised that he had just died.

"Well, not that that matters to you anymore…"

Then, someone gasped behind him, and Ichigo turned behind to see that Tatsuki, Rukia, Ishida and Sado had just appeared. There was also a boy with them, wearing regal attire – he was the one who had gasped. The boy lurched forward and cried, "Lord Kumoi! What happened to him?"

"He's dead. Don't worry about it, though. We know who did it, and a trusted friend is already going after the killer. Who are you, by the way?"

"Umm…my name is Shuu…I'm…"

Tatsuki interjected, "Shuu here is Rurichiyo's fiancé. From what he tells us, it seems he was already engaged to Rurichiyo from birth, so the marriage itself isn't actually Kumoi's doing. It was going to happen sooner or later. He had been kept locked up in a room somewhere, and we just found him a short while ago."

"I see. So the bridegroom from earlier was a fake too. Anyway, my name is Ichigo, and I'm the Substitute Shinigami in charge of Karakura Town. You're probably worried about Rurichiyo, so let me assure you she's safe."

Shuu smiled in relief and wiped his brows, which had been shiny with sweat.

"She's safe? I'm glad to hear that!"

Ichigo smiled, then stood up and addressed the group.

"Listen up everyone. Kumoi was killed by Captain Amagai Shusuke of the Third Division." Ignoring the gasps around him, Ichigo continued, "Katsurou and Suì-Fēng have already gone after him, so there's no need to worry. They can take care of things."

"As for Kumoi, we were right. He was staging a fake marriage and probably wanted to smoke out the real Rurichiyo or create a puppet ruler whom he could manipulate. Now, Shuu, listen to me. When all this is over, we'll bring Rurichiyo back. I understand you probably want to see her, but it's too dangerous for her to return. I just want you to know that she's safe where she is now."

Shuu looked conflicted for a while, but nodded and thanked Ichigo. Tatsuki then asked, "So, why did one of the Captains suddenly come here and kill this guy?"

"He said he wanted to take his vengeance on all those who took everything from him – and that apparently includes the Kasumioji Family. Don't ask me – Katsurou knows much more about all this than I do."

Ishida said exasperatedly, "So you don't know anything about the situation."

"Well, neither do you! At least we came to the right place while the rest of you were fumbling about the manor! But you're right. I want to know what's going on, and there's just one place to find out. Guys, I want you to stay here and take care of things. I'm going to the First Division Headquarters!"

"Hey, we're still in danger of getting attacked by the guards here! Don't just leave us hanging, damn it!" yelled Tatsuki.

But it was too late; the Prince was gone. Tatsuki punched the wall in frustration, a dark aura building up around her.

"He's so gonna get it when he returns! No mercy!"

Meanwhile

Katsurou and Suì-Fēng reached the First Division just in time to see Amagai facing Yamamoto. The Commander had not so much as batted an eyelid at the threat facing him and had already released his Zanpakuto, preparing to face the traitor Captain. But as Katsurou and Suì-Fēng landed on the balcony where the two combatants were standing, Amagai activated his Bakkoto and struck the ground with it. Waves of green spiritual energy propagated from the Bakkoto and spread to everyone around them. Suddenly, the flames of Yamamoto's sword disappeared.

"Without your shikai, you are powerless, Yamamoto! With my Bakkoto, I have sealed away the Zanpakuto of any Shinigami around me. Now stand right there as I kill you!"

"Sting all enemies to death, _Suzumebachi_!" It looked as if Amagai had been telling the truth, as Suì-Fēng's Zanpakuto did not enter its Shikai state upon the spoken command. Luckily, Katsurou still had an ace up his sleeve – he was a Vizard, and therefore, unaffected by Amagai.

"If you're blocking Shinigami powers, then I'll be your opponent! Stand in silence, _Haka_!" This time, the sword responded, and changed to its slim-bladed Shikai form. With a quick flash-step, Katsurou got within an arm's length of the traitor and cut him.

"You! But how? My Bakkoto seals away a Shinigami's strength!"

"You should have done your research better," growled Katsurou, "My name is Murayama Katsurou, former Captain of the Third Division."

"Former Captain? Oh, yes, I remember now! The one who was promoted to the Zero Division a while back, eh? What brings you back here?" snapped Amagai, whose wound was shallow.

"I raised the Third Division as its captain and built a great team. I'm not about to let you soil my Division's good name!"

"I don't care about your division! All I care about is my revenge on Yamamoto for killing my father!" With that, Amagai lost his patience and attacked Katsurou in a frenzy. The Knight responded in a quick move that stunned even Suì-Fēng, by flash-stepping around Amagai to his back and kicking him, turning the traitor's momentum on himself.

"Revenge? Do you even know the full details concerning the death of your father? Did you know what he was doing on that night?"

"Of course! He went on a secret mission to investigate the accursed Kasumioji Family! When he came out, possessed by the Bakkoto, Yamamoto put him down like a rabid dog to prevent anyone from knowing about the mission! I even remember his last words to me! He told me to seek out the Bakkoto, to make myself stronger!"

Katsurou's eyes widened in surprise and then, disbelief. As Amagai repeatedly attacked him, he responded effortlessly, blocking his strikes and landing a few blows of his own, giving rise to numerous small wounds on Amagai's body. Soon, Ichigo had arrived as well. The Commander decided to put a stop to the meaningless fight at this point.

"That's enough, Katsurou! Stand down. I think it is about time the truth came out."

"What truth? Are you going to feed me lies now, Yamamoto?"

"No. It seems you have been misguided for a long time now. You are the son of Kisaragi Shin'etsu, are you not? It is true he was one of my students. It is true he was sent by me on a secret mission to investigate the Kasumioji Family."

"So it is true then! You covered your tracks by killing your own student!"

Katsurou interjected, "No, that's not true! Don't you know what happens to one who feeds too much of his own power to the Bakkoto?"

"It consumes them, doesn't it? The weapon itself sucks them dry of reiatsu, killing them." Ichigo said, "Is that what happened to Kisaragi?"

"That is true. My student Shin'etsu was consumed by the power of the Bakkoto, and in that poor state of mind, he was ordered by the Kasumioji Family to kill me. By the time I faced him, his mind was lost, and there was nothing to do but put him down."

Amagai was taken aback by this news, but kept fighting, and kept adding reiatsu to his Bakkoto, which was glowing brighter and brighter the more he used it.

Seeing that he was not going to back down even after this, Ichigo shouted, "You've heard the truth now, but you still want to keep fighting? Your father was consumed by the Bakkoto! Do you want history to repeat itself? I've heard of your record as the Captain of the Third Division Captain. You were an excellent leader back then. Is this how you want to end everything?"

The only response he got was a mind-numbing scream from Amagai, whose Bakkoto had sprouted slimy tentacles which were wrapping around him. Yamamoto sighed, "It seems he has passed the point of no return – he has fed too much reiatsu to his Bakkoto. It is consuming him now."

"K-kill me…please!" Everyone was startled to hear this – from Amagai. The traitor looked desperate, even as his Bakkoto's tentacles wrapped tightly around him, squeezing the life force out of his bloodied body. Suì-Fēng said solemnly, "He wants us to kill him before the Bakkoto does the job."

"Now that you mention that, I think I can understand how he feels. He'd rather be put down by a Shinigami's blade than lose to the Bakkoto." Murmured Katsurou, "Commander, may I?"

Yamamoto nodded, looking for once like a tired old man rather than a military head. Katsurou glanced at Ichigo, silently seeking his approval as well. Ichigo looked away, not wanting to make the decision. Then, he sighed.

"You know what…just do whatever." Katsurou nodded and made his move. With a quick move, he cut Amagai's chest, using sufficient power to make a deep cut. Amagai screamed one last time, and fell to the ground, with the Bakkoto losing its power and reverting to its normal tuning fork form.

History had repeated, and the son of Kisaragi Shin'etsu had fallen thanks to the power of the Bakkoto.

A few days later

"I can't believe it! Just when a capable leader comes along, he turns out to be a traitor, and I have to give him the _coup de Grace_!"

This outburst had come from Katsurou, who was sitting at a table looking pissed. The others (who had been given a room to stay in until they could leave) had already been informed of the sombre events that had taken place and the Prince and the Knight had gone from being in a state of shock, to feeling somewhat guilty, and now they were both angry. The seven stages of grief, Ishida had stated, in a professorial manner. Even Tatsuki didn't bother to make good on her promise to deal with Ichigo for leaving them behind in the manor, (Fine! I'll let you go just this once!). In the awkward silence that followed, Rukia put down the copy of the Seireitei Gazette that she had been reading and said, "What are you both going to do now, anyway? You have some authority here – are you going to use it to change anything?"

"Definitely. I've already done it, in fact. Now, the Gotei-13 can order investigations into noble families if they are suspected of law-breaking. This way, we can prevent this sort of thing from happening again."

"Not that it should have happened this time in the first place. Through all this underground activities, two men with great potential died, and a little girl got caught up in a whirlwind of secret plots and suchlike." Intoned Katsurou.

There was an uncomfortable silence following this. A change of subject was in order, Tatsuki decided, and asked, "Have you guys read this article on 'great cafes and restaurants in the living world' in the Seireitei Gazette? Some guy named M. Marumune wrote it. He's even mentioned something about the ice cream bar outside our school!"

Katsurou perked up at hearing the name, and said, "Marumune? What the hell is he doing?"

Ichigo looked at him curiously, "Marumune? Isn't that…"

With a touch of pride, Katsurou said, "My brother, yes! I had no idea he wrote for the Seireitei Gazette!"

Tatsuki was shocked by this, "You have a brother? What's he like?"

"Marumune's not my blood brother – he's kinda adopted, actually. But he's a good man. Sarcastic at times, but he's strong and fights for what he believes in."

"Not to mention he's a good cook as well," chipped in Ichigo.

"Heh…that sounds like the ideal guy," chuckled Tatsuki slyly.

"Don't bother, there's someone else he likes,"

Tatsuki laughed, "Oh well."

And just like that, the conversation shifted to normal things. The morbid events of the past few days had been all but forgotten.

Sado, who had been absent up till that point, walked into the room at that point, and said, "Rurichiyo is back in Seireitei. The remaining members of the House have pledged their allegiance to her, and so it's safe for her to resume her role as the Princess. I think they want to see us."

"Oh leave it. I have no intention of seeing that bunch again."

"You can say what you want, Ichigo, but they have invited all of us to the actual wedding between Shuu and Rurichiyo." Sado held out a fancy envelope to Ichigo, who received it and read it gloomily.

Ichigo sighed, "I suppose it's only common courtesy to go in and say hi. You guys, call Urahara and get him to have some formal clothes sent up to you. Or will you be willing to lend them some from the Kuchiki Family, Rukia?"

Surprised, Rukia said, "Well, if that's you wish, your Highness…I'm sure my brother won't mind."

"How many times must I tell you to call me Ichigo?"

End of Filler

The next chapter will resume the official storyline of _The Dark Prince_.

Now that I think about it, this filler was pretty useless, and I apologise for boring you. But since I had already started it, I had to finish it. And at least, there were some useful bits, particularly Marumune. Murayama Marumune is an OC and, like his brother Katsurou, he was created by Ghost Writer Orange-kun. Thanks again for your wonderful contribution! Marumune will be appearing in chapters to come, so don't go about forgetting him just about yet.


	16. Into the King's Realm

The Dark Prince

Chapter 16: Into the King's Realm

08.20. p.m. in the Conference Room of Las Noches

"Ulquiorra Cifer, _Cuatro Espada_. Was defeated roughly at 07.45 p.m. today. His enemy dealt heavy physical damage which caused heavy bleeding and destruction of a few internal organs. He survived thanks to his impressive capacity for regeneration. Next, Tia Harribel, _Tres Espada_. Died 08.04 p.m. today. The cause of death was two reishi arrows to her _chain link_ and _soul sleep_, instantly draining her spiritual energy. This left her unable to regenerate, and she eventually succumbed to the physical wounds left by the same arrows."

It was half past Eight, and Szayel Aporro Grantz, the scientist-in-chief at Las Noches as well as the Octava Espada, was delivering this report personally to Aizen Sosuke in the conference room of Las Noches. The two men were seated at opposite ends of the massive table sipping tea from tall white cups.

"These arrows, Szayel…Are they Quincy arrows?"

"Yes, my Lord. They are the same type used by the Quincy. I found the _Tres Espada_ when she was dying. At the moment she stopped breathing and her heart stopped beating, her body disintegrated like a normal Hollow's would, and I did not feel her soul being purified and sent to Soul Society. It was completely destroyed, removed from the cycle of death and reincarnation."

Aizen closed his eyes in displeasure. He knew that Szayel could have saved Harribel from death, only he chose not to. After all, Hollows instinctually choose not go out of their way to save the life of another dying hollow. Most likely Szayel had been standing there, observing as his comrade's life went out like a flame.

"Szayel, I normally do not tolerate this kind of behaviour. All the Espada were handpicked by me to be the forefront of my army, and they should not be allowed to die in such meaningless ways. I can understand nothing could be done about Ulquiorra's defeat, but Harribel's life could still have been saved."

The pink-haired scientist started to sweat a little. Before he could offer a reason for his actions, Aizen ran a hand through his hair and said, "Calm yourself, Szayel. I did say 'normally'. Harribel's spiritual energy had been drained from her. Even if you had saved her life, she would not recover the power she had lost. She would be useless to our war effort; she would lose the loyalty of her subordinates without power and even the lesser Arrancar would find her easy prey. She would have died sooner or later."

Szayel slowly let out the breath he had been holding in. Aizen smiled somewhat and said, "More importantly, who did it? We know Kurosaki Ichigo fought and defeated Ulquiorra, and that is an amazing feat for the boy who seemed rather weak such a short time ago. But I think the bigger concern is the person who killed Harribel. The Quincy, Ishida Uryu was elsewhere in Las Noches at the time of her death. So who is this Quincy who shot Harribel?"

Szayel ventured, "The arts of the Quincy are passed on through family. It could have been a living relative of Ishida Uryu who still practises these arts. He calls himself the Last Quincy, but how could he possibly know that there is no Quincy other than him?"

"Yes, I thought so as well. When we first sent out incomplete Arrancar into the Human World, I remember receiving some information that one of those low-level Arrancar was defeated by a Quincy. I know for a fact that Ishida Uryu did not have any powers during that time, because I sensed him losing all his power in Soul Society when he invaded Seireitei alongside Kurosaki Ichigo."

"So another Quincy appeared in the same town and he, or she, may be here among us now."

"Possibly. Have the Exequias search the entire castle thoroughly. If Ulquiorra has not recovered completely, I want you to personally take him under your care and bring him back to being in the pink of health. With Harribel dead, Ulquiorra's power is necessary."

Szayel bowed deeply and said, "Yes, my Lord! Ulquiorra will be completely fine shortly."

He got out of the room as quickly as he could, without making it seem as if he was in a hurry. He wiped his brow as he hurried over to the Infirmary, while barking orders at some of his Fraccion, who were standing outside waiting for him.

07.55 (25 minutes earlier)

Ichigo bowed deeply to the tall, thin man in black who had appeared before himself, Rukia, Inoue and Tatsuki.

"It's good to see you again in person, _Aniue_*. It's been a long time."

The man grinned at Ichigo and said, "Too long, Ichigo."

Unsure of what to do, the three girls bowed to the man as well, figuring that he must be a Prince as well, as Ichigo referred to him respectfully as a brother. Ichigo promptly introduced them. The man's name was Isaac and the girls were right; he was a Prince and he was superior to Ichigo as well. He exuded an aura of power like Ichigo himself, and seemed charismatic and even friendly to a certain extent. His race was hard to pin down; he had tanned skin, dark blond hair and brown eyes. He was slim, but had hidden reserves of strength.

"You look somewhat tired, Ichigo. Is everything alright?"

Ichigo looked at the Espada, lying on the floor, looking defiant even as her blood seeped out to form a small pool on the ground.

"Yes. She surprised me, that's all. But what brings you here, Aniue? You rarely leave the King's realm."

"That's true. But we need you back in the King's realm, Ichigo. Something's come up."

Ichigo raised an eyebrow, "Well, not that I didn't want to see you, but wouldn't sending a knight suffice?"

"Well, I had nothing to do at the moment, so I decided to come personally instead."

Tatsuki felt some reiatsu approaching and said sharply, "Someone's coming!"

"Time's run out, then," commented Isaac, who snapped his fingers and said, "Let's go."

"Wait!" protested Ichigo, but it was too late. A bright ring of blue smoke appeared around the five gathered in that place, closed in on them, and dissipated when it had fully compressed on them. By the time it had all cleared, the group of five had disappeared. They had been transported elsewhere.

Elsewhere

Everyone except Ichigo and Isaac ended up coughing for a few seconds as they had breathed in the smoke. The pure white walls of Las Noches seemed to have disappeared, and the surroundings had changed. The group was now standing on the chilly top of a short mountain overlooking a lush green forest. The forest went on for what seemed like several miles, and directly in the middle of it stood a great walled city. Within the walls, there were a few shining skyscrapers and at the opposite edge of the city was a building which looked like a posh Victorian manor.

"This is how we travel between dimensions. It takes a while to get used to," said Isaac, noticing the confusion on the girls' faces.

"Hmm. It looks as if this place hasn't changed one bit since I last came here," commented Ichigo. He said this while looking out into the distance, where there was a shining city

"Wait! Where are we anyway? What just happened?" asked Inoue.

Isaac smiled at her confused expression and said, "Welcome to the King's Realm! Like I said earlier, something came up and we need Ichigo here."

Ichigo glared at him and said, "Didn't I ask you to wait? Some of my friends are still in there. I can't just leave them behind."

Isaac held up his hands and said calmly, "Yes, I know. I'm sorry about that, but you're needed here. But don't worry. You've got your Knight there, and I've sent two of my men there as well. They'll help your friends out."

Ichigo was mollified by this and said, "Well, you should have left the girls behind, at any rate. If those guys search the entire castle and find Inoue missing, they'll freak out. Rukia, remind me to call Katsurou later to inform him that Inoue's safe."

"But still, I'm grateful for the help you've sent, Aniue. What's going on here that's so urgent?"

Isaac did not answer immediately, but started walking down from the mountain top.

"Let's get a move on first, shall we? I'll explain on the way. It's important but we don't have to hurry. Tell me, what do you know of the Spirit King?"

Ichigo replied, "What kind of question is that? We've known the answer to that since birth!"

"No, I'm asking the three girls. Since they're here, we might as well let them in on this. Of course, what we say here is to be kept secret. Understood?"

"Yes, your highness!" said the three girls quickly. They might be able to fool around a little with Ichigo, but they dared not be so informal with the other Prince, with whom they were unfamiliar.

Rukia guessed, "From what I've been taught in the Shino Academy, the King is what they call the 'lynchpin'. Without him, Soul Society will collapse."

"That is correct. The King is a being who regulates the flow of Souls and ensures that the cycle of death and reincarnation continues. Without him, the world will not function normally. Now, has Ichigo ever told you what his role actually is?"

This time, Inoue answered. She was somewhat anxious, being in a foreign place with people she did not know, or was unfamiliar with, but luckily, Tatsuki's presence calmed her down.

"He told us that he had helped Urahara-san in the past. He trained him, Yoruichi-san and Tessai-san. He also aided Soul Society in the past."

Ichigo nodded, "From my position, I can offer such help to individuals in the living world and Soul Society. But I haven't told you my primary job yet."

"Your primary job?"

"As you may have already noticed, I am a Quincy," said Isaac, "Ichigo is a Shinigami. We are benefactors of the living and the dead, and we are benefactors of our different races. I'm not sure if he has told you this, but he did me a big favour 200 years ago when he intervened in the war between Quincy and Shinigami and helped me save many of my brethren. That's the reason why there are still a few Quincy families still surviving to this day. When the fighting had ended, we visited them and instructed them to live quietly and not to attract attention. But like Ichigo said, that's not our main duty. Our main duty is to look after the Spirit King himself and make sure he does his job well. We can see what's happening in the real world and soul society, and from there, we can see whether or not he is performing his duties well."

Rukia observed, "The way you speak of the King…it doesn't seem like the way one would normally address his father."

When she had said this, Isaac turned around and stared at her. Rukia turned pale, realising too late that she had casually tossed out a comment about his personal life.

"I apologise for speaking out of turn!"

Isaac chuckled lightly and said, "No, it's fine. That was an astute observation. I do not refer to the King as my father, because he really is not my father."

Everyone except Ichigo was speechless by this proclamation. The Japanese Prince explained, "The King controls souls and has some power over the destiny of these souls. I was born in Japan 3046 years ago. It was during the Late Jomon Period of Japanese history. After I lived and died as a human, I went to the early Soul Society and served there. This was merely a phase of training for me, in a sense. I had to learn to be a Shinigami first. When the time was right, I was brought before the Spirit King and commissioned to be a Prince. The only other person at that time was my brother Isaac himself."

Isaac laughed at hearing this and said, "I guided him for a while after that. It was difficult; he spoke only old-style Japanese while I spoke only Hebrew, because I was born of the Jewish People. But I digress…as Ichigo said, he was handpicked by the King to be a Prince. The same happened to me, and to our sisters and brother. So we are really not related by blood."

He then turned serious and said, "The reason I asked you to come here is because I have a personal suspicion and I would like you to confirm it somehow. We need to look at some past records, perhaps even talk to the King. I'll give you further details later on."

"I see. I suppose you brought me here because you want to look among the records of souls – those records that only we have access to."

"Exactly. This is why I called you instead of asking the Knights to do this task."

At this point, the group had reached the base of the mountain where they had appeared. Just at the edge of the forest at the foot of the mountain, they were met by two men. Both were dressed in mantles, one emerald green and the other burgundy. Under the mantles, they wore tunics and sturdy trousers with a sword strapped to their belts. Both appeared middle-aged and carried wooden staves. As Isaac approached them, they bowed deeply and the one in the green mantle spoke, "Welcome back, Lord Isaac, Lord Ichigo. We will escort you through the forest."

Isaac nodded in approval. Ichigo mused, "Are these the Knights of the Zodiac I've heard so much about?"

"Yes they are. They are Libra and Aries." As Isaac said this, he gestured to the man in the green mantle first, followed by his partner.

"They are my Knights, and they are very capable men."

After trekking for a while through the forest of widely-spaced out trees, they reached the walled city. From this perspective, they were able to see that the wall was almost twice the height of the wall surrounding Seireitei. Libra, the man in the green mantle, stepped forward and tapped the wall with his staff. Three straight cracks appeared in the wall, forming an upright rectangle starting from the ground. This portion of the wall suddenly vanished, leaving an entrance through which a man the size of Kenpachi could easily fit through. Led by the Knights, the group of five stepped through the door and when all were inside, the missing portion of the wall reappeared and the three cracks were instantly smoothed over.

Rukia looked at it in awe and commented, "That was amazing…It's unlike the wall in Seireitei, where the gate has to be lifted up with sheer strength."

"Whenever people like Knights enter this realm, they'll only end up outside in the mountains, like we did. We can't cross from other dimensions directly into the city. This is one way of proving that you belong to this dimension, as only Knights or Royal Family members like me can command that wall to open."

After saying this, Isaac turned to the three girls and said, "Where we are going now, you can't follow. At least, not yet. Libra, Aries, thanks for your help. Now, if you could find these young ladies a place to stay until Ichigo can bring them back…"

He broke off and the two Knights understood. They bowed again to both Princes.

"Go with Libra and Aries, the three of you. They'll let you stay in one of the buildings for now."

Rukia, Inoue and Tatsuki bowed to the two Princes and followed the two Knights.

"So, where are you taking us again?"

Libra smiled at them. He had wavy brown hair, tanned skin and good-looking features, and a charming appearance.

"Those skyscrapers are meant to house Knights and their family members. There are many empty flats, however, and we are going to let you use one of them for the time being."

Tatsuki quipped, "Earlier, Ichigo said something about Knights of the Zodiac. What was that all about?"

Aries answered this time. He was more fair-skinned than his counterpart and had pure white hair, looking somewhat similar to Hitsugaya Toshiro.

"We are part of a group of Knights who draw their power from the stars and cosmos. We each represent a certain constellation of the Zodiac, and hence, the term 'Knights of the Zodiac'. We were picked to be the personal Knights and servants of his highness Lord Isaac."

"That sounds so cool!" This quip from Inoue caused everyone to chuckle. After a while, they reached a certain skyscraper, and were dropped off at a flat on the fifth floor. Libra tapped the door with his staff and it unlocked.

"The keys are inside. Use it if you want to go outside. There is food and water in the kitchen."

The girls stepped inside and gasped in unison. It was a small but beautiful condominium flat with three bedrooms and a small living room with a balcony. There was a monochromatic blur paint scheme throughout the flat. Once she had gotten over her amazement, Inoue turned around to thank the two knights, but they had mysteriously disappeared.

"Well…those two are gone! Looks like we're on our own now," she muttered.

Rukia sighed, "Yeah, it looks that way. Damn. I wish I'd been left behind in Las Noches now. At least there, I could be of use."

Tatsuki, who had just grabbed a can of coke from the fridge, froze. Her look of excitement faded and she said, "Oh, right. In all the excitement I forgot about them. They practically came to rescue us, and we're not even there in the first place."

Inoue looked troubled, and said, "I hope they're fine. Isaac-san did say he was sending his men, though. They should be able to help out everyone!"

The three exchanged hopeful smiles.

Meanwhile

Ichigo looked somewhat nervous as he stood before the entrance of the massive Victorian manor on the edge of the city.

"The palace, huh? It's been such a long time I've forgotten how home looks like."

Isaac concurred, "I'd expect no less from a man of the world, like you. You're the only one among us who can go to other dimensions and still feel more comfortable there than at home."

Ichigo stepped up to the door and hesitated. Then, he bit the bullet and knocked.

"Seriously? You're knocking on the door of your own home? I sure have a strange brother, don't I?" laughed Isaac, much to Ichigo's chagrin. However, the door opened. Standing before them was a beautiful young woman with dark blue hair that fell to her shoulders and sharp features. She was dressed casually, in a T-shirt and gym shorts. She looked at Ichigo and her eyes instantly widened.

Ichigo stared at her, scrutinising her appearance, then looked back at Isaac.

"She doesn't look one bit like…what she used to look like. Those clothes – not what I'd expect from a Princess."

"Well, yes. She's quite into the Living World, you see. That's where she got those clothes. She hates the so-called 'stuffy traditions of the past'."

A vein popped on the woman's forehead.

"The first time you've seen your dear awesome sister in so many decades, and you start off by insulting me?"

Ichigo burst out laughing at her response and stepped forward to embrace her.

"Insulting you? Don't be ridiculous, Fionna. You remind me of Karin, the sister I grew up with as a human. It suits you just fine."

"It's great to see you again, Ichigo. Err…I mean, Aniue," said Fionna, another member of the Royal Family.

Ichigo smiled at her awkward moment and ruffled her hair affectionately. The trio walked into the manor, stepping into a large room with two flights of stairs leading to the upper floors.

"So, where are the twins?"

"They went out. There are some kids out there whom they get along well with. They may be centuries old, but they're still like children, so the children of other Knights are good friends with them."

Isaac cleared his throat and said, "Well, that's probably a good thing. I know you two probably have quite a bit of catching up to do, but there's something we need to talk about. It'll be best if we can wrap up the discussion before the twins come back."

Fionna frowned at him, but did not argue.

"Well, sure, I guess. Come along, let's get ourselves comfortable."

They went up the stairs and into a conference room, where there was a long table with plush leather chairs. They seated themselves and Isaac started the discussion.

"Remember that personal suspicion I mentioned earlier while we were walking, Ichigo? Well, this is it: it's about the Spirit King. I think…that _he may be playing with destiny_."

Ichigo and Fionna raised their eyebrows.

"Playing with destiny? But, Aniue, he controls destiny, doesn't he?" asked Fionna.

"But he has his own limits, Fionna. He has bounds he must act within. He's the closest thing we have to a God, but it is wrong to say that he _is_ a God. He can't just do whatever he likes. I've been observing the past centuries and noticed some things odd. This is why I called Ichigo back. I want the three of us to search past records and determine what's wrong."

"What exactly is odd, Aniue? We don't know the basis for your suspicions!"

"The Quincy War. Then, there was the Hollowfication incident a hundred years ago, where several captains and lieutenants were subjected to Hollowfication. And now, there's Aizen's sudden uprising and the formation of Arrancars. This challenges everything we have accepted up till now. One or two such incidents can be overlooked, but I can't overlook this."

Ichigo breathed out slowly and said, "I see. So that's why you think something may be wrong. He is supposed to control these things and prevent them from happening if they are too extreme. But why? He has been here since the beginning of time. He has never failed before. What could have made him act in such a way?"

Isaac placed both his hands on the table. Sweat was on his brow. Whatever he wanted to say, it was a difficult thing to utter. After a long pause, Isaac spoke.

"I think…I think that the Spirit King _may be insane_."

Ichigo and Fionna gasped in shock at Isaac's words.

_To be continued_

*Aniue: This is an archaic way to address an older brother, and has a degree of respect somewhat similar to 'Nii-sama', if I'm not mistaken.


	17. Brewing Trouble

The Dark Prince

It's Lunar New Year Season! _Gong xi fa cai!_

Chapter 17: Brewing Trouble

Hueco Mundo

The sound of clanging metal rent the warm desert air, and sand went flying everywhere. Nnoitra and Katsurou were, as the former had asserted earlier, 'evenly matched'. Neither had been scratched, and neither was willing to stop. A particularly violent blow from Nnoitra and an equally powerful reaction from Katsurou forced the two combatants to jump backwards. With a good 4 metres separating them, they eyed each other.

"Your claim that your sword can cut through anything…Don't know if that's true, but it still means nothing in the end if you can't strike me!"

"You're right. The winner of this fight will be the first to cut the other."

As Katsurou lunged forward, Nnoitra grinned slyly, "Oh really? Sure your first cut will make all the difference?" To Katsurou's astonishment, the Espada did not move from his position or even lift up his blade even as he brought down Haka upon him. Instead, the Fifth Espada slammed his hand into the incoming Zanpakuto and shoved it aside. Katsurou narrowly avoided being impaled by the same hand.

"Nice try, Shinigami. You could certainly have cut me with that much strength, but in its current state, it's not emitting enough reiatsu to get past my _Hierro_!"

Katsurou stood up, having come to the same conclusion as Nnoitra. Clearly, he was going to have to go bigger. He held out his sword and intoned, "_Stand in silence, Hak-_"

Before he could complete the phrase, someone else altogether drawled loudly, "Don't go stealing my prey, Nnoitra, you bastard!"

The two fighters turned in the direction of the voice. Katsurou stopped his sword release.

"Grimmjow? The hell are you doing here? This is no place for weaklings! Shoo! Go and play somewhere else!" Nnoitra shouted at the gatecrasher – Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez.

The Sixth Espada flipped off his senior, and growled at Katsurou, "I'm still not done with you!"

Irritably, Katsurou gestured towards Nnoitra, "I'm a little busy now!"

"Not for long!" Grimmjow launched himself at Nnoitra.

"Attacking me? That's pathetic! You'll never beat me, or that Shinigami!"

"Beat you? That'll come in due time!"

"In due time?" snapped Nnoitra, not in the mood for guessing games. Grimmjow smirked at him and started charging energy in his palm.

"Cero? It's no use, Grimmjow!" Nnoitra countered with his massive weapon…but he realised too late that it was a decoy. Grimmjow stuck out his other arm and popped a small red box – right into Nnoitra's eyepatch.

"What the – _Caja Negación_? Damn you, Grimmjow! How did you – "

" – know where your hole is? Maybe you need to get a more pain-resistant _Fraccion_."

"Tesla squealed, huh? To hell with him!" Nnoitra panted, as his body started disappearing into another dimension.

"_C'est la vie_, Nnoitra!"

"But know this, Grimmjow: _You're already dead_. You were dead from the moment you tried to pull this stupid trick on me. I'll be out in no time, and then, _I'm coming straight for you_!"

Grimmjow yawned conspicuously as Nnoitra faded away completely.

Katsurou opened his mouth, about to say something – but then closed it and shook his head.

"Wasn't he your…gee, what's the word? _Friend_? _Nakama_*? _Péngyôu_? Why'd you do that?" demanded Katsurou with an edge of sarcasm to his voice.

"Friend? As if, moron! You – " Grimmjow pointed an accusing finger at Katsurou, " – humiliated me last time. Now fight me, so I can return the favour!"

The blue-haired Espada launched himself at Katsurou, his sword drawn and poised to cut skin.

"Stand in Silence, Haka!" Katsurou's blade morphed into its long, thin double-edged Shikai form. Metal clanged once more.

Laughing madly, Grimmjow continued pounding with his sword, while Katsurou was forced on the defensive. He grunted in pain as Grimmjow sent him flying back.

"_Where have I seen that face before?_" he wondered. Surely he had seen it before. Electric blue hair and matching eyes, with the manic grin – that was not a typical easy-to-forget face. Grimmjow kicked him hard. Any normal man would have fallen to the ground writhing in pain, but Katsurou was not 'normal'. He skidded back, and Grimmjow pulled out his next move. He stuck his sword in the ground and cut his finger on it.

"Cutting yourself? I didn't think you'd be into that kind of thing."

"Ever seen rituals performed by ancient tribal people? Many offerings to the Gods require blood, y'know," As he said this, Grimmjow began charging a cero – but this was different from before. Instead of its usual blood red colour, it was bright blue and pulsing wildly.

"Yeah, more blood means more goodies from the Big Guy. So you're praying to the Gods for your victory?"

Grimmjow grinned at him, "No – this is an offering for you…specifically for your funeral! _Gran Rey Cero_!"

A cero was rather like a massive balloon full of energy, Katsurou reflected, as he calmly regarded Grimmjow's attack coming at him. One just had to pierce the balloon and explode it prematurely, or just take it head on and use one's own power to mitigate the effects of external reiatsu. In his current state, he was not emitting enough reiatsu for the second option. On the other hand, the first option was also unavailable because it was too near. Katsurou breathed out deeply. Thinking of options was a silly waste of time. He just had to emit more power than he already was.

"_Bankai – Shizuka no Haka_**."

Grimmjow smiled in satisfaction as his cero exploded all around Katsurou.

"No way that's enough to take you down…come out of there!"

The swirling smoke from the explosion shifted to the right suddenly, as a blade pierced the air. It was Katsurou's bankai – an elegant weapon consisting of one large double-edged blade on each end of a staff. Kanji was engraved onto the blades, and Katsurou glared at Grimmjow as the arcane symbols glowed with black spiritual energy outlined with silver.

"Every bit as impressive as the last time I saw it," Grimmjow murmured.

"Enough talk. I remember you talked about your sword release when we first met. Show me, Arrancar."

"Very well, Shinigami! _Grind, Pantera_!"

A shockwave of energy emanated from Grimmjow, as he assumed his _Resurrección_ form – a panther-human hybrid with tough white skin, a long whip-like tail, paw-like hands with sharp claws and sharper teeth.

"So that's the sword release of an Arrancar – is that your old form while you were still a Menos?"

"Yeah…That's why it's called a _Resurrección_ – it's literally a resurrection of your former self." Grimmjow explained, in a quiet, almost reflective tone.

"Come at me anytime," Katsurou muttered, holding his weapon defensively. Grimmjow obliged, lunging at him, and meeting his blade with his claws. They traded blows continuously. They moved so fast that they spent more time in the air than on the ground. Katsurou put some distance between himself and Grimmjow, spun his weapon rapidly in front of him and held out his palm.

"_Hado #58: Tenran!_"

A tornado was created from his energy and from the spinning movement of his blade, and went straight for his opponent, who was diving at him. Without wasting any more time, Katsurou followed up, "_Hado #73: Soren Sokatsui!_"

The effect of combining the two spells was spectacular, to say the least. A blue fire tornado was created, and Grimmjow was sucked right into it. Katsurou stood back and watched his handiwork as he waited for Grimmjow to come out.

But at that moment, he felt something. Unsure of what had just happened, Katsurou cast his senses far and wide yet again, and this time, there was no mistaking it. Another powerful reiatsu signature had just arrived at Hueco Mundo – but he had not felt any Garganta open. This visitor was a special one – Prince Isaac, the older brother of his lord, Ichigo. Katsurou started walking away from the place resolutely. If Prince Isaac was here, he had to return to his Lord, as a Knight should. But, he found out a few seconds later that he couldn't leave just yet.

Grimmjow had recovered from the few seconds he had spent inside Katsurou's tornado, and was ready to attack again. This time, instead of coming straight for him this time, he turned around mid-flight and held up his elbow towards Katsurou. The Knight blinked in surprise, and then cursed. Something was coming towards him! By the time he saw the tiny green projectiles that Grimmjow had launched at him from his elbow, it was too late. Five of them came his way, and while he dodged two, the other three went right into his torso. The Knight cursed and coughed up blood.

"That was a good trick! But it feels like I've seen it before," Grimmjow panted, "Have we fought before?"

"You mean before that time when you brought your underlings to Karakura Town? I…don't think so."

"Really? I could have sworn I've seen you before,"

"Maybe in a past life," Katsurou joked. He attacked again, knowing that he had to go back to Ichigo quickly. His movements were slightly slower than before thanks to the attack he had just absorbed, but he was still keeping up with Grimmjow. But then, something else distracted him. The reiatsu signatures were gone. Where he had felt Tatsuki, Inoue, Rukia, Prince Isaac and his Lord standing, now there was absolutely nothing. They had just vanished.

The Knight pondered what had happened, as he deflected Grimmjow's attacks without paying too much attention to him. A train of thought formed within his head.

_Prince Isaac had just appeared, presumably from the King's Realm itself, and seconds later, he had just vanished, taking Ichigo and the rest with him. There's no reason for the Prince to appear in person, and take Ichigo with him. There was apparently not even enough time to send the three girls somewhere safe; instead, the two Princes just took them into the King's Realm, where ordinary humans and Shinigami are usually never brought. Clearly, there's an emergency._

_What should I do? My instructions were to assist in the rescue of Inoue Orihime. She clearly has been rescued already. Now, everyone is fighting for no reason. I've got to stop this._

_What about my Lord and what he has gone off to do? I should join him…but not yet. He has knights to protect and to assist him. And besides, his friends are here. As much as I want to hurry to his side, as a Knight must, he would want his friends to be safe, first of all._

Katsurou made his decision: He would stay on in Hueco Mundo and help everyone escape. Then he would go to the King's Realm as soon as possible. With renewed confidence, he paid attention to the fight, and started pushing Grimmjow back.

"You're faster now," Grimmjow remarked, clawing at him wildly, "Something happen?"

"I just came to a decision, that's all,"

Grimmjow backed off a little and said, "You know, I think there's something to what you said earlier about past life."

"You're saying we really did meet in a past life?" Katsurou asked, "That's preposterous."

But even as he said that, Katsurou started thinking again. Why not? They really _could_ have met in a past life. He still had flashbacks of his life as a human, and the Espada was most certainly a human before he died and became a Hollow.

_Think. Think. Think._

_I was a human once, a long time ago. I belonged to a family of warriors. I would have met strong enemies and friends and fought with or against them. Could I possibly have met a guy like this?_

As the seconds passed by, Katsurou suddenly began to cry out in pain. He started shaking severely, and almost dropped his weapon. Perturbed, Grimmjow backed away. The last time Katsurou had started seizing before him, he had become a mindless killer, intent on doing violence to Grimmjow, and it had cost him dearly. He wasn't going to repeat the same mistake.

However, unlike last time, Katsurou's convulsions seemed quite different. He seemed to genuinely be in pain, and he was not entering a blanked out state. He was now swinging his weapon around wildly and randomly, kicking up much sand. Feeling more confident now, Grimmjow attacked – but to his surprise, Katsurou stopped his claws and even managed to throw him off easily. He quickly got up, crouching low.

_Katsurou's flashback starts_

_Back when I was a human, I could see spirits well – my whole clan could. There had been a powerful Hollow terrorising the people who lived in our territory, and I was going after it. It was hiding in a heavily forested area, and it was raining hard – making it difficult to see. The Hollow had surprised me on its own turf, and I was almost dying – but then someone came along and scared it off. It was a stranger with blue hair and blue eyes. I was initially angry. We were not taken to helping out a warrior in the middle of his own battle, even if he was dying. It was a dishonourable thing to do. But he claimed he was not interested in me._

_I followed him back out of the forest. He was a loner and was not happy about having company, but he talked to me anyway. I found out he was a travelling mercenary in search of strong enemies. He came from a far-off land, which I later found out was called 'France'._

_When I first saw the Espada called Grimmjow, in Karakura Town, I did not even think of the Mercenary. It was only to be expected – I had seen him a long time ago. But now that I think of it, Grimmjow and that mercenary from a long time ago may have been one and the same. _

_We met on and off, because he frequently travelled into my clan's territory. Our encounters always started with a fight and ended with a drinking session. We were never what one could call comrades or friends, but we did respect one another._

_I died some time later, and became a Shinigami after my soul went to Soul Society. I later became the Captain of Division 3, and after that, I became a Knight in the service of the Spirit King and his chosen champions – Prince Ichigo and his brethren. On one of my missions, I came to earth, and I ran into him again. I had last seen him 50 years ago. Now, he was much older, and while he was healthy, it wouldn't have been long before he died. Life expectancy in those times wasn't exactly high, and he was already pushing a record-breaking 70-something years old._

_We fought for one last time. I've never seen a more one-sided fight – an aging human versus a Knight in his prime, but he asked for it and was so adamant that it would have been dishonourable to refuse. It ended quickly, and he died there and then. His spirit lingered – though I left early because I didn't want to stick around after his burial. My mistake – he hollowfied. Not surprisingly, he became a powerful Hollow, and eventually became an Arrancar._

_Some things about my past life are out of bounds and my inner Hollow complicates things. I don't remember everything, as a result. I don't even try to – I don't like the subconscious adverse effects I suffer as a result of trying too hard to remember. But I still have this memory – the memory of that bloody mercenary, and I know for sure I'm not mistaken._

_Katsurou's Flashback ends_

Katsurou looked up, and gasped when he saw Grimmjow coming at him. He raised his arms to defend just in time, as the kick landed hard. He slammed into a pillar some distance away,

"Recovered already?"

Katsurou laughed at this. "Even in death, you keep seeking me out and fighting."

"What? Have you lost it?"

"I just remembered something, that's all."

"Do you always have a seizure when you remember things?" the Espada demanded.

"No…only when remembering major things. You were right earlier about that past life thing."

"I think you have really lost it," Grimmjow sarcastically pretended to be concerned.

"It's fine. I'll make you remember." Katsurou snapped "I know who you are. You used to be a mercenary from France and you saw me often. You've fought me. My fighting style should force you to remember."

At once, Katsurou became much more aggressive. He attacked Grimmjow with stabs, and when the Espada retreated, he flash-stepped around him and kicked him hard. The combination of martial arts with attacks using his weapon was effective, and Grimmjow was forced to be on the defensive, even though his Resurrección form gave him thicker _Hierro_, greater speed and more power.

"No choice! Looks like I've got to go all out," Grimmjow said as he jumped back to use another attack. He held out both hands, fingers outstretched.

"_Desgarrón__!_" Massive blue claws of solid spirit particles appeared at his fingertips. He threw back one hand and swiped the air in front of him, towards Katsurou, who was standing many metres away.

"Solid claws made of reishi, huh? Katsurou mused, "You obviously didn't hear what I told Nnoitra about my weapon. _It cuts through anything._"

As the claws came at him, Katsurou positioned himself such that all the claws were converging on his location. As they approached, he suddenly ducked and held up his weapon. The blades scraped against Grimmjow's claws, and they instantly shattered. Grimmjow gasped at this and sent out his next set of claws.

"It's no use!" Katsurou shouted and flew up to his foe.

"I beat you back then, I've beaten you now!" he shouted – and slashed Grimmjow hard.

As he fell, Grimmjow muttered, "Damn it, not again…"

Some time later

Grimmjow opened his eyes gradually, and looked around.

"Finally awake, huh?"

Grimmjow looked silently at his opponent, who was sitting on a piece of rubble nearby.

"You…remember, don't you?" he asked. Katsurou nodded.

"We both fought all those years ago. And then I died – at your hands. The _Knight_ killed me." Grimmjow shook his head.

"As per your own wishes, mercenary."

"Yeah, I know. You felt those reiatsu signatures, right? Aren't you gonna go back to your lord?"

Katsurou shook his head tightly, "Nope. Those signatures…came and went. I trust they have everything under control. I'm a Knight, and my duty is to stand next to my Lord and support him, but they don't need me now."

"I see." Grimmjow looked over at Katsurou curiously, "Why'd you spare me now? Back when I was alive…when I was just a human with special powers…you killed me. Now I'm a dangerous hollow, and you're sparing me?"

"Things change."

"That's a pathetic excuse."

Katsurou chuckled, "Yeah, I can get away with a pathetic excuse 'cause I won. But you can't." His voice took on a dramatic tone and he said imperiously, "Now, you have to perform the traditional duty of the loser…go get the drinks!"

Grimmjow glared at him, then began chuckling. Soon, it developed into full-blown laughter, which Katsurou gladly joined in.

"Fine! You won! I'll go get the booze!"

In the King's Realm

Fionna's Point of View

It was about 12 midnight in the King's realm, and we were still in the library, doing research. What were we looking for? That was rather hard to say; one could say we were looking for a needle in a haystack, but without knowing how to distinguish needles from hay.

Isaac, my brother, had asserted that the King was insane, and was perhaps using his Godlike powers to influence the course of history. How was that possible? Perhaps I should first explain the King and his powers and duties.

The King has existed since before mankind formed, and it is believed that he set the conditions required for the creation of intelligent life in the form of human beings. He regulates the flow of spirits from earth to Soul Society and back, through the cycle of rebirth and reincarnation. He has some rules, though. He cannot allow the birth of too many exceptionally powerful people because they can have destabilising effects on society and people – as they might abuse their power and oppress others.

Sometimes, people, or spirits, grow powerful on their own, and in that case, they can cause trouble; like a powerful Vasto Lorde that raises an army of Hollows. This sort of incident really happened close to 200 years ago, shortly after the Quincy war. A hollow named Barragan Luisenbarn gained Vasto Lorde status and many Hollows started following him – typical behaviour for Hollows, which seek the strongest and follow him or challenge him for his throne. Barragan was undefeated, or at least, the stronger Vasto Lordes never bothered to find him and topple him.

To keep an eye on the situation, Ichigo himself went to Hueco Mundo, taking with him his loyal knight, Murayama Katsurou. We originally expected him to kill Barragan or at least force him to disband his army, but to our surprise, he came back having done neither of these. In his opinion, this Hollow King was beneficial to the rest of the world as he kept Hollows in line, and because he had no interest in attacking humans or the Shinigami. That way, he kept order in Hueco Mundo. Ultimately, I believe he made the right call, but I digress…

As I was saying earlier, powerful people can sometimes have destabilising effects. That's what we were looking out for: An exceptionally large number of powerful people that would imply that the King was seeking to destabilise the world, or any of the Soul Societies. Power corrupts, and it must be controlled.

Ichigo put down a file he was flipping through and sighed. He said, "Y'know…I think Aizen's army itself could be what we're looking for."

"Aizen – You told me about him. He's the one starting a rebellion against the Japanese Soul Society, right?" Isaac asked.

"Yeah, that's the one. He is abnormally powerful, and it seems he's been that way for a long time. He has a group of followers, all of whom are very strong Arrancar – that could be what we're looking for; a large group of powerful beings fighting for the same cause. That man is doing something on a scale nobody's ever attempted before. He took a lot of strong Menos-class Hollows and made them into Arrancar using the…" He suddenly broke off, and placed a hand on his chin.

"Using what? Is it important?" I quizzed. All of us royal family members had lived for many centuries, and we all had learned the importance of education. Isaac was into social sciences like Economics and Psychology, and Ichigo knew a great deal about medicine, among other things. My speciality was in Science and Technology, and I wanted to know how this Aizen could create Shinigami-Hollow hybrids. I was disappointed, however, when Ichigo walked out suddenly, saying, "I'll be back in a little while – need to check up on something."

Meanwhile in an alternate dimension

Katsurou examined the bottle Grimmjow had just passed him with a cocked eyebrow.

"This isn't sake…this is white wine." He said, somewhat dumbly.

"What an astute observation, Sherlock!" Grimmjow yelled sarcastically, "You want a trophy for that?"

Katsurou sighed, "I didn't want a trophy, I wanted sake! Well whatever, the wine'll do. I guess you _are _French, after all."

They chuckled, clinked their glasses and drank.

King's Realm

Ichigo's Point of View, that moment

Looking through a bunch of files may yield results…eventually. I decided to try another way, which might be faster. I walked out of the library and over to my own room and had a seat after locking the door.

My room was large but with Spartan decor. There was a plain bed with a plain study table along with a cabinet that contained all the different tools of my trade – medical and relating to my work as a Prince. Did I mention I studied medicine a long time ago? One does not go 2900-odd years without learning something meaningful. On the wall, there was a stand where I kept the sealed Zangetsu in his sheath. I took it down, drew my Zanpakuto, and sat down on my bed cross-legged and with my sword resting on my knees – the _Jinzen_ posture. I concentrated, and within seconds, I was within my inner world, standing on the side of one of the skyscrapers.

"Hey Zangetsu," I greeted my partner, "You already know all about what's going on, right?"

He nodded, "You wish to ask the Hogyoku for answers," It was more of a statement than a question.

"That's right. I need to talk to him now."

As soon as I said that, there was a sudden distortion in the air a few metres away from where Zangetsu and I were standing, and when the air was still again, the Hogyoku was standing before us. His appearance was the same as last time; with the red cloak and grey hair.

"Hogyoku…you've seen into the souls of hundreds of people, am I right?"

"Yes. That is what I was doing when Aizen Sosuke exposed some denizens of the Rukongai to my power."

I nodded and said, "Very good. Right now, my brethren and I are suspicious of the activities of our lord, the Spirit King. We think he may be messing with the course of history by creating powerful individuals and perhaps corrupting them."

"You want me to grant your wish?" asked the Hogyoku, appearing somewhat smug. I glared at him and snapped, "Yeah. If there was any irregularity, you might've noticed. Tell me what you know."

"Yes," He stood silently for a while, with his eyes closed. After a while, he opened them again and said, "There were many unusually strong individuals among the people I was exposed to over the course of the last 120 or so years. But that's only natural. It's not even a coincidence; spiritual strength develops in souls in response to danger. Aizen has been using people in the Rukongai. That place is practically a slum – many of these people face danger on a daily basis."

"Thank you." I intoned, without actually meaning it. I took a seat on the side of the skyscraper and started thinking.

"It's weird."

"What is?" asked the Hogyoku irritably.

"Isaac told us to look for strong people where they're not really supposed to be present. I understand how that's cause for concern, because the King isn't doing his duties properly. But it's not anything major. It's not like every guy with power will necessarily do evil with it. It's not like he'll go unopposed."

"So your point is that Isaac is getting worried over trivial matters?" Zangetsu asked.

"No. My brother wouldn't do something like this for no reason. There is a reason why he's doing this. There has to be a reason why he suspects the King is insane. It's probably a good reason. But I don't know what it is. I don't even know what he would do if he really was insane or why he would do it,"

"But if the King is insane, it is worth looking into, isn't it?" The Hogyoku asked. He was right. Something this serious should not be left unchecked at all.

"Perhaps he just wants to…play?" Zangetsu asked.

"Play? What do you mean?"

"He's insane…and he controls the birth of people and what talents they are born with. If he is insane, he probably is toying around with destiny, randomly creating people and setting them against one another."

"That could be the case." I said slowly, tentatively.

"You know what? I'll just go back to Fionna and Isaac and help them search. I'm wasting time here." I said, and went out of my inner world. However, as soon as I regained consciousness, I felt something cold against my neck – a blade. Someone had sneaked in! An assassin?

Without looking up, I surveyed the man's robes. It was black, lined with dark blue, and looked rather grand. I looked up at the man's face – He was young, with dark blue hair and cold grey eyes. I knew this man. I breathed, "_Capricorn,_"

Fionna's Point of View

Oh the injustice. Five minutes ago, Ichigo left, and three minutes later, Isaac too left for something else. Now I'm stuck doing all the work. Men are such pigs.

I sighed as I continued scrolling through the computer where the records of mankind were stored. There was hardly anything here. Was there even anything solid in Isaac's claim that the King was mad? I doubted it. I got up and stretched. Maybe I should go and get a coffee or something. I was tired.

This wasn't supposed to happen, I reflected, as I walked down the hallways of the large castle we called home. Ichigo had died, and after about 100 years, he was reborn and now he has his memories back. We were supposed to be having a celebration, but instead, he comes back quietly like a child who's feeling guilty for running away from home, and we get straight to work. The youngest of all of us, the twins Marco and Marie, don't even know that their brother is back. What a mess.

"Are you feeling alright, Ma'am?" a voice asks behind me. I'm not surprised that there's someone else. We have servants here, and I always fail to realise they're in the same room as I am when I'm lost in thought.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I say, and I start to turn back. Then I gasp in pain – there's a blade in my stomach. The man who just spoke to me was not a servant – he was trying to kill me! I looked into the face of my attacker, a man wearing grand white robes lined with silver. I breathed, "_Cancer…_"

_To be continued_

*_Nakama_ is a Japanese word meaning 'comrade' or 'friend'. Many readers are probably already familiar with the word. _Péngyôu_ is in Chinese and means pretty much the same thing.

**_Shizuka no Haka_ – the name of Murayama Katsurou's bankai. It means 'Grave of Silence', and as with all things related to Katsurou, this was thought of by Ghost Writer Orange-kun.


End file.
